Silent Chambers
by Pinguin1993
Summary: Stealthy Stories Contest. Ever wondered what happens when you put Raph and Leo into a box, six feet under, with nothing but each other and a dagger? Bishop did. And so he tries it out. Of course help is coming. But where exactly are they? Complete.
1. Captured

_I decided to take part in the battle of wits going on just now. Means, the "buried stories" writing contest from Stealthy Stories. Thanks, Nervegas. ;3  
Disclaimer: If I owned the TMNT, you wouldn't want them anymore. You're here. Proves: I don't own them. I do own a TMNT cup, though.  
Summary: Ever wondered what'd happen if you put Leo and Raph in a box six feet under - together?

* * *

_

_There is no such thing as inner peace.  
There is only nervousness and death.  
[Fran Lebowitz]_

_

* * *

_**Silent Chambers

* * *

**_02:18 a.m., NYC, rooftops_

"I still don't think this is a good idea."

Leonardo's voice is strained. Raphael almost smirks at that. He really hadn't even intended to go out tonight. That was, until his older brother told him that going out alone was dangerous right now. The foot were roaming the streets, and additionally Donatello told them earlier that Bishop's men had been seen in the city.

Raphael couldn't really let that opportunity pass, now could he?

"Are you listening to me?"

And so he went out anyway, ignoring his brother's comments. He had laughed at Leo telling the others to go to bed before he went after the hothead; laughed, because he loved to annoy the older turtle. And he knew perfectly well that going out on patrol "Raph-style" was the best way to do so.

"Raphael, listen! I really think we should..."

Up to now, it is working. Leo followed him for over an hour now, occasionally calling out, but mostly remaining stoically silent. He had only recently started to try and convince him to go back. Babbled something about a "bad feeling". Well, once Raph found some of Hun's Purple Dragons or maybe even foot ninja, he would give _them _a bad feeling.

A hand on his shoulder wipes the smug look off his face. He turns around, startled, only to feel another hand over his mouth, covering his protests. Leo's dark onyx eyes are locked on something right behind his brother's back, but the hothead doesn't have to ask what the problem is. He could see Bishop's men as well, as they are quickly closing the circle around the two brothers. Slowly, Leonardo releases his death grip and gives his brother some space.

"Careless, careless, careless", Leo mutters to himself and Raph knows that a lecture will follow as soon as they are done here. He doesn't care. One of the men raises a dart gun at the leader's chest, and with the soft _pop _of the dart leaving the barrel, the start signal is given. Raphael draws his sai, only vaguely notes Leo's twin katana gleaming in the light of a nearby street lantern. He charges with a growl, and the fight begins.

The men in the red-and-black protection gear don't make a single sound. They just raise their weapons, pull the trigger, and go down just as noiselessly as they fight when they are hit. Raphael hates to admit it, but this whole scene freaks him out. His senses start to go into overdrive as he slashes madly at the darts, trying to reach the hunter before he is shot himself.

He has heard the sound of a tranquilizer dart hitting solid turtle flesh more than once, but it never stops scaring him. He turns, more on instinct than anything else, and sees his brother's legs give in under him. "Le-" he starts to shout, but another dart hits him in the arm, and he goes down with an angry grunt.

He is unconscious before he even hits the cold concrete of the roof.

_?:? ?, ?, ?_

Leonardo wakes up with a groan. His head is spinning, even though he is lying flat on his plastron. _Probably the aftereffects of the drugs, _he thinks and then, _Raphael?_

"Raphael", he says, but all that comes out is a hoarse whisper. He coughs and tries again, louder this time. "Raphael? Raph, are you there?"

No answer comes, but he can feel his brother's presence nearby. Now that he is coming to his senses, he can actually _smell _his brother. _Ugh. _Quickly scanning his surroundings, but finding nothing but darkness, Leo tries to get up into a kneeling position. He manages about one foot before his head bumps into concrete. _Ouch._

Still, he notices at once that all his gear is gone. His knee and elbow pads are gone, and so is his belt. Too bad, but he didn't think they would let him keep his cell. His weapons disappeared, too, but that is not a surprise; at least his mask is right where he left it on his face. Well, he would deal with the question of clothing later._  
_

Shifting, and more careful this time, the ninja stretches out his hands to the side. His left hand almost immediately hits a wall, and for a second he is afraid that he is captured in some kind of tight box, but then the fingers of his right hand find something warm and moving. Something _alive. _Almost on instinct, he grabs the comforting rough skin tighter.

"Whoa!"

Raphael's surprised yelp fills the small room and he jumps up, only to hit his head in the same manner his brother did just moments ago. Only much, much harder. With an agonized groan, he sinks back to the ground. Through the sudden pain that flares up in his skull, he can only just hear Leo's nervous call. "Raph, are you okay? Do you hear me? Raph?"

"I hear ya, knucklehead, so shut the crap up", Raphael snaps angrily. His voice is raspy, and he needs a second to recall the incident with bishop's men. When he groans this time, it is not because of the pain. "Where _are _we, fearless?" he asks, calmer now, and a little worried. "What is dis thing?"

He can hear Leo's hands scratching on concrete, even though he doesn't see a thing. Following the older brother's example, he stretches out his hands to the sides. Concrete wall on the right side, his brother's form on the left. Leo flinches at the contact. "Stop tickling me, Raph", he snaps, his nerves thin.

"I did not _tickle _you, idiot. I was just checking on our surroundings!" Raph's temper flares up immediately. He tries to stretch his arms over his head. Concrete. Stretches his legs. Concrete.

"Shit", he whispers, suddenly worried. His temper cools as fast as it came. "Leo, _where are we?_"

Leo, who just came to the same conclusion as his hot-headed brother, shrugs. Then he remembers that no one can see him doing so and says aloud, "how am I supposed to know? Try the ceiling."

Their shells scratch on the cold stone as they shift and try to turn around. It is no use; the top is too low for them to move onto their sides with the shells in the way. With a heavy grunt, Raph gives up on his attempt, and he hears Leo next to him follow his example. "Great idea. What now?" he mutters.

An annoyed _sigh _escapes Leo before he can stop it. "I told you, I don't _know, _Raph", he answers. "I'm not superman either, you know."

"No, _you _are just Mr. Shot-with-a-tranq-dart", Raph comments. He regrets it the second the words leave his mouth, but it is already too late to take them back. And he really isn't in the mood to apologize right now anyway. After all, it _had _been Leo who was shot first, right? Still, he could feel the body next to his own stiffen. To his surprise, the eldest doesn't answer right away, and when he does, his voice is as calm as usually.

"Yes, you are right. I am sorry for getting us into trouble."

There is a moment of silence, and Raph knows that he should probably say something now, apologize and take it back, something, anything. But he doesn't. And then the right moment is over, and the silence becomes awkward.

"What do we do now?", the red-banded brother whispers once he thinks he waited long enough. Does he imagine it or is Leonardo's voice stiffer than normally? "I suppose we wait", the leader whispers back and Raph hears his shell scratch on stone before it is silent again.

The breathing next to him slows down, becomes more and more even, and the hothead knows Leo is in meditation now. It is his big brother's way to escape the world. Raphael's is to fight. It is utterly frustrating to be forced to lay in here and do nothing, but he is determined not to lose to Leo, no matter at what. Not at fighting, not at commanding, and especially not at something as easy as waiting.

Still, he can't help but think about spiders and other insects crawling about in the dark as he lies and breathes slowly. His skin is itching all over from the mere thought of them. But Leo doesn't move, and so he won't, either. He will not lose this battle of will.

When he finally falls asleep, the insects haunt his mind in his nightmares.


	2. Buried

_Huge thanks to those who have reviewed already! I am really glad you like the story. (Thanks to those at Stealthy Stories, too.)  
An especially huge Thank You goes to Simone Robinson for her biiiiiiig review and for correcting my typos. English is not my first language, but I'm learning. :3  
Just for those of you interested: At the beginning I wanted to put Mikey and Raphie in the box. But I decided against it. I think the two boneheads need a little brother-to-brother time. Don't you agree?  


* * *

If politicians and scientists were lazier,  
How much happier we should all be.  
[Evelyn Waugh]

* * *

_**Silent Chambers - 2

* * *

****_06:37 a.m., NYC, Secret Lair_**

Michelangelo only so much as glances at the clock in his room before his eyelids slide closed again. He had woken up by a strange feeling, crawling into his blissfully ignorant dreams. But now is not the time to wake and work. Now is the time to sleep and forget.

_Training, _his blurry mind whispers. The thought makes its way hazily through his brain, almost alarming, but not quite. _6 a.m. is time for training._

_Ah, shut up, _Michelangelo thinks back lazily. _Leo'll wake me up when he wants to start._

And the clock keeps on ticking, the needles drawing endless circles in the quietness of the Lair. Only downstairs, in the small kitchen, Splinter keeps an eye on the tracks of time. He casually takes sips of green tea from the small yellow cup in his hands. His gaze is resting on the sheet of paper he found when he made his five o'clock tea this morning.

- Sensei,  
Raphael and I are going out  
for a while. Guess he needs  
to blow off some steam. Don't  
worry. We'll be back soon.  
Leonardo -

_**Time: Unknown, Location: Unknown, In a stone box?**  
_

"Raph. Raphael, wake up."

With a small groan, the hot-headed turtle slowly opens his amber eyes. It doesn't make a difference. For some reason, the lights are out, and everything is dark. He knows Leo is there, though. Only Leo has the guts to wake his immediate younger brother at nighttime. The red-wearing one does wonder, though, why he is lying on his plastron on the ground instead of his hammock.

"Wassit?", Raphael slurs sleepily. He lifts his arms, intending to stretch a bit, and hits stone. Immediately, the memory comes back. "Oh, shell. We're still in here? Any idea what time 't is?"

"No. Must have been a few hours." Leo's tone is strangely indifferent, and for a second Raphael wonders why. Then he remembers the conversation, and guilt washes over him like a wave. He wipes it off immediately, replacing it with hatred at Bishop. He doesn't need guilt right now; he needs actions. Maybe he can use his sai to get through whatever this box is made of. Funny enough that they let him keep his weapons, though.

"Do you feel .. strange, Raphael?", Leonardo asks. The addressed turns a confused gaze in his brother's direction. "I mean, do you feel .. different than before?"

"I feel angry", the hothead grumbles. "When I see Bishop the next time, I'll shove his head where the sun don't shine an' den _he _can see how much fun 't is ta sit in de dark." He thinks about that for a few seconds. "Why? Should I feel strange?", he asks once he is satisfied with the image in his mind.

Leo shakes his head, even though he knows his brother probably can't tell. "You're not suffocating or anything?"

Worry overcomes Raph. "Are you?" He secretly sniffs the air, but there is nothing different about it. A faint smell of earth, maybe. That's all.

Again, Leo shakes his head. "No."

"Then why are ya asking?" Raph asks, now mayorly annoyed. Why does his brother have to keep doing that, anyway? "Stop babblin' an' help me find a way out, _fearless._"

"_Think, _Raph, goddamnit", Leo hisses. He tries to control his anger by deliberately slowing his breathing, but the situation does nothing to help him. "This is supposed to be concrete, or stone, or anything. We didn't find the smallest gap, at least as far as_ I _am concerned." He can't hold back this small comment, and Raph answers with a low growl. "We've been in this thing for hours, at last. We're not suffocating. That means there are air holes somewhere."

Raphael grounds his teeth. Fighting the urge to punch his brother right in the face, he clenches his fists and mutters, "Fine, then. We have enough air. But what's 'bout de food? B'sides, I need ta use da toilet by now." He regrets the last part as soon as he says it. Leo would probably smirk now, thinking how pathetic he was. But to his surprise, the blue-clad turtle agrees. "I know. I could do with some of Mikey's cinnamon rolls right now."

They both smile for a second. Then Raph reaches out and grabs the handle of one of his sai. His weapons are stuck under his plastron, and he has to shift awkwardly to get them, but he manages. Slowly, he pulls the fork-like instrument out and then moves his arm slowly until the tip hits the wall with the sound of a small bell.

"What was-", Leo starts to ask but is interrupted by the sound of fingernails on a blackboard, only a hundred times louder and more intense. Raphael is drawing his steel weapon along the cold concrete wall.

"Raph!" Now both worried and angry, Leonardo reaches out and grabs his brother's shoulder firlmy. "What are you doing?", he shouts. "What _is _that?"

Raphael shakes off the hand on his arm. "I'm trying to find a weak spot. How 'bout ya stop whinin' an' start helpin' me? Or are ya katana too _precious?_"

Leo jerks back as if stung by a bee. "What are you _talking _about? How am I supposed to use my katana when..." Then realization hits him. "_You still have your weapons?" _Now he doesn't even try anymore to conceal his anger. "And you _didn't think _for _one second _to maybe just _tell me?"_

Raph turns his head, and Leo can feel his amber eyes burning like laser beams through the darkness. "An' how was _I _sapposed ta know that your weapons are gone, bonehead?"

The tension is building up fast. Suddenly the room seems much too small for both of them. Leo breathes deeply, in and out, in and out, desperately trying to regain control of his emotions. "Fine", he finally says as calm as he manages. "Give me your other sai, and I'll see what I can do."

He didn't think of the "angry Raph factor". His only answer is a deep growl. "As if I gave _you my _weapons", Raphael hisses.

Leo's eyes narrow. "What is that supposed to mean?"

His brother laughs, and the cold harsh sound echoes from the walls. "That is s'pposed ta _mean _that if ya touch my weapons, I'll _give _ya ma weapons. But not in a way ya like it."

Leo shrinks back automatically, more out of instinct than of real fear. He _knows _that he can take on his hot-headed brother any time, weapons or not- as long as he is out in the open, and with enough room to dodge. In a stone cube of 6x6x3 feet, with all the weapons on Raphael's side? Not so much. So he grinds his teeth and waits, not moving, while his brother hacks and slices at the walls with double the force.

Slowly, as time passes by and the hothead's panting and growling grows louder, he closes his eyes and sinks back into meditation. With a little luck, he can reach someone on the spiritual plane.

**_8:59 a.m., __State: Unknown, Bishop's Office_**

In his office, John Bishop pushes back the red leather chair and walks over to the wooden walls. The large windows show nothing but grassy meadows. In the distance a few trees stand against the low breeze. But the government agent's attention rests on a small patch of brown earth, a few hundred feet from the window, just noticeable if you know where it is.

The most frightening, joyless smile creeps into the thin lines of his mouth as he slowly paces back towards his computer. The camera he installed in the cube shows the most interesting video he has seen in a long time.

Maybe it hasn't been such a bad idea after all to leave Raphael's daggers with them.


	3. Peace

_I know I should update my "Uptown World, Vol. II" by now. But this is just too much fun. Guess there will be more than 4 chaps, after all.  
Again, a huge Thanks to all of you who have reviewed already. O.o I think I've never had that many reviews in such a short time. So wow, you guys rock. And another BIIIIIG Thank You to Shim who, once again, took the time to correct my mistakes and found exactly the right words to make me smile. (You all did. But Shim? Your reviews are wonderful :)  
Chiaki, I hope it is okay to use the quote I found whilst scrolling through the Stealthy Story site. If not, please tell me.

* * *

_

_Bishop treats us like animals, _  
_And that's what scares me. _  
_In his eyes, that's all we are._  
_[Chiaki-Angel, Stealthy Stories, Open Wounds RPG]_

* * *

**Silent Chambers - 3

* * *

**

**_9:12 a.m., NYC, Secret Lair_**

With a sigh, Splinter abandons his attempts to get his two youngest sons to train without Leonardo and Raphael. He finishes the last sips of his third cup of tea and leaves the kitchen, heading for his own room. Maybe an hour of meditation will calm his worry.

He is about to be disappointed.

Almost as soon as the candles are lit and the old master slipped into semi-consciousness, his oldest son called out to him.

_- really can't stand him. Why does he have to be like that, I mean it's not as if I were attempting to assassinate him or something..._

_My son, _Splinter calls out, worried and confused by the lack of self-control that made his best student bring his worries with him to the spiritual plane. _My son, what is wrong? Did something happen? We are awaiting you for training._

_Sensei! _Even in his mind, Leonardo's voice is practically ringing with relief. _Sensei, I am so glad you are here. We were on our way back already, really, but then Bishop's men appeared all of a sudden and attacked._

Worry floods Splinter's mind. _Are you all right? Did they hurt you, my son? Is your brother with you? _

There is a second of silence. _We are okay, _Leonardo finally says, but it sounds hesistant. _We are not physically hurt, that is. Raphael is with me. Sensei, we are in some kind of stone cube, and we can't seem to find a way out._

Splinter's heart drops. _You were captured?_

_Well, yes, _Leonardo answers quietly, and Splinter can almost see the way his son ducks his head. _It was my fault, father. They had tranquilizer dart guns and we-_

The connection breaks.

_**Time: Unknown, Location: Unknown, In a box, Underground?**_

"Fearless" Raph says, more insistent this time, and grabs his brother's elbow. The grass-green turtle jerks, coming out of meditation with a light yelp. "What the-? Raph? Can't you tell I was _meditating? _What exactly is your _problem?_"

Raphael releases his brother's arm at once. "Well, I am _sorry _fa _disturbin' _you", he snaps angrily. "Just thought you might want to know that I found one of da air holes, afta ya were all stinky 'bout da weapon thing." He wishes he could just turn away, or at least cross his arms, but the enclosed space only allows a small movement of his head. Not that it really matters in the dark. But he would like to do it anyway.

"Oh." Leo is silent for a moment. "I'm sorry." He blows out a weary sigh. "This situation really gets the better of me more than it should. I am really sorry. It was good that you told me." He shifts, coming a little closer. His arm is inches from Raphael's. "It could all be worse", he says, and his brother can actually _hear_ the faint smile on his face, "At least we are not alone."

In this moment Raph truly hates Leo. For being able to say sorry when Raph himself had not been. For being kind. For staying calm. And, most of all, for being right. Because of course he was right. They were not alone. And thus, they would go through this and come out in one piece.

"I guess", he quietly admits after a second of silence. Then he stretches out his hand. "Don't flinch, 'kay? 'm gonna show ya da small hole I found. Gimme ya hand."

Their fingers touched, and Raphael grabbed Leo's almost hesitantly. Slowly, he moves their hands to a spot right over his head. "Ya feel it?" he whispers, suddenly afraid that he was wrong, or that his found would disappear if he made a noise.

"Yes, it's right here." Leo automatically whispers as well. "That's very good. It's a start at least. Now if we can use your sai, or something else, to..."

A sharp _click _echoes through the stone casket, and Leo flinches back. "What the-?" he whispers, almost cursing, but not quite. Raphael hears his fingers brushing over the stone wall, then again, and more insistent. "Raph" the leader says, "tell me I'm stupid, but I think the hole just disappeared!"

"What? Lemme see." He lays his fingers against the wall next to his brother's, exactly where he knows the tiny hole was moments ago, but finds nothing. "What is this shit?", he growls, searching the whole wall. Nothing. "I think it just closed" Leo says, and it has a ring of exhausted finality to it. Raph remembers for the first time that his brother didn't sleep well for a few days and has to be really tired by now. He mentally slaps himself for not thinking of that earlier.

"Ya think there's more?" he carefully asks. His brother sighs wearily. "Probably. This tiny thing can't have been it. I bet they are all above our shells, where we can't reach them."

Raphael hesitates for only a second, "Listen" he says. "Why don't ya try an' sleep a bit? I promise I call ya if anythin' changes, 'kay?"

He can tell his brother is surprised even through the dark nothingness of the casket. "Yeah", Leo finally admits. "Yeah, I think that would be good." He shifts again, away from Raphael's arm, to give them both more room. "You're sure?"

Raphael smiles. It is his first honest smile in quite some time now. Slowly, he reaches out until he finds his brother's arm. Giving it a soft squeeze, he whispers:

"Yeah. I'm sure. I'll watch over you."

**_10:06 a.m., State: Unknown, Bishop's office_**

Government agent John Bishop narrows his eyes in disappointment. This is not going at all the way he planned. Not only did they stop fighting, and even somewhat made up; now this stupid "Raphael" even found one of his cameras! He mistook it for an air hole, but still. It is a terrible nuisance.

It seems he underestimated the two turtles. The initial plan had been to put them into the box for a few hours. Following his calculations, the faked "humanity" they seemed to possess would have crumbled by then- maybe not Leonardo's, but Raphael's for sure- and they would have started to fight. For air, for space, for peace and quiet; maybe just for the sake of a fight. They were animals, after all, and animals didn't like being captured in an enclosed space - with a rival, at that.

It had been his plan to put Leonardo and Raphael together, because they were known for their disagreement and their fighting. He wanted a video of the hot-headed one hurting, or better even killing, his "brother". He would make sure the others would find it. Then he would finish them all off and use their bodies for the experiments he started a while ago.

It is his job to ensure the protection of the planed he lives on and the state he loves.

Now it seems that he has to change his plans.

Another cruel smile shows on his lips as he opens a panel on the desk and presses a switch. Maybe not everything was going according to plan. But he will get what he wants. One way or the other.

It is time to speed up the action.

**_A few moments earlier: 10:03 a.m., NYC, Secret Lair_**

"My sons, I believe we have a problem."

Splinter hurries down the staircase to the living room as fast as he dares without looking too alarmed. Donatello and Michelangelo, who were playing a video game, look up in unison, "What's up, Sensei?" Mikey asks, and his baby-blue eyes show a spark of concern while he at the same time he tries to beat the racing game without looking.

Donatello's face shows a similar expression, as he pretends not to notice what his immediate younger brother is up to.

"Leonardo contacted me" Splinter says, and Mikey presses the 'pause' button. The game freezes, and the undivided attention now is the ninjutsu master's.

"He called you?" Donnie asks a bit confused. His father's cell is supposed to be in his lab for repairs. "Where are they? I called April a while ago and she said they weren't there."

The old rat shakes his head. "We met on the spiritual plane", he says gravely and sees his youngest son's face darken as he starts to suggest what happened. "My sons, I believe Agent Bishop might have your brothers."

"That would explain why neither answer their cell phones", Donnie suggests. There is a short moment of silence in which no one moves. Then the purple-banded turtle jumps off the sofa and sprints upstairs to his computer. "What am I thinking?", he shouts at himself as he starts the machine, and Splinter takes a deep breath. He does not know why their connection broke all of a sudden, but he is hopeful now that they will find his sons before anything worse happens to them.


	4. Cold Fire

_And again, huge thanks to my reviewers. It's so cool to have that many reviewers after so little time. You all rock, rock, rock my world and keep me going day after day. The hugest Thank You goes, once again, to Simone. Or Shimonu. ;3 You get it. Your reviews are epic. I really appreciate the effort. That's so super cool, and improving my fic, too. So yeah. You all rock.  
And I'm glad that you all like the way I present Bishop. I have to fight the urge to just have him jump out of the window and die with every word I write, but it seems it's worth the effort. *blushes*  
Leo: I'm for letting him die.  
Me: Back into the casket, slave!

* * *

__Our siblings push buttons that cast us in roles_  
_we felt sure we had let go of long ago -_  
_the baby, the peacekeeper, the caretaker, the avoider..._  
_It doesn't seem to matter how much time has elapsed_  
_or how far we've traveled._  
_[Jane Mersky Leder]_

* * *

**Silent Chambers - Chapter 4

* * *

**

**_Time: Unknown, Location: Unknown, In a box, Underground?_  
**

At first he thinks he is imagining things.

Maybe it is the enclosed space. The inability to move properly to keep warm. Maybe it's the cold stone underneath him, or the fact that they are not as warm-blooded as they would like to be. Maybe it's the loss of sleep or the realization setting in that until the others find them, they are truly busted.

Only when the air starts to appear in thin, white clouds with every exhaling breath, he knows for sure that it really _is _getting colder in the stone cube.

Well, this is definitely a change worth telling, he thinks not without a smirk. It can't have been more than half an hour since Leo finally fell asleep, but already the red-clad turtle is bored out of his mind. He has too much energy that needs to be released. Normally, they would've had training by now; he would maybe use his punching bag if he were at home. Do something, _anything, _instead of just laying here forced to stay still.

"Yo, Leo" he whispers and, when no reaction comes whatsoever, a little louder, "Leo! Wake up!"

With a flinch that Raphael more feels than actually sees Leo's eyes fly open. He instantly tries to sit up, only to hit his head on the too-low ceiling. Raph fights back a chuckle, but he can't keep the smirk out of his voice. "Watch your head, fearless."

With an angry growl, Leonardo sinks back to the ground. "Yeah, thanks for the warning" he mutters bitterly. Then he looks around. "Hey, is it getting lighter in here?" He blinks a few times when the first colors come back to him from the darkness. The white light is too bright, stinging in his eyes and momentarily blinding him.

"Yeah, an' colder" Raph adds. He tries to shield his eyes with his left hand and accidentally hits his brother with his elbow. "Sorry." The smirk is back on his face. Too bad Leo can see it now.

"Yeah, as if you really-"

The leader's voice is cut off when a dark, deep _booming _fills the small stone room. Leo can now see that the walls are actually painted a really dark red. The parts where Raphael's sai had hit the stone earlier are scratched; it looks like the work of a wild animal.

Then the strange sound is replaced by a voice, speaking with enough bass to send vibrations through their body. The voice is echoing by the walls and magnified a hundred times, or so it seems.

_"And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: And God divided the light from the darkness."_

The words are followed by a moment of silence until finally, unnerved, the two teenagers open their eyes and look around.

"What a creepy color", Raph comments the walls. His face splits into a wide grin. "I like it."

"You know what _I _like?" Leonardo grins as well, but for a completely different reason. "_I _like that once we get out of here, you owe me twenty dollars." He chuckles when he sees Raphael's grimace. "Well, it's your own fault really. It was _so _obvious that Bishop's God complex would get the better of him rather sooner than later."

"I bet he quoted Frankenstein before he quoted da Bible a thousand times already. We jus' weren't there ta notice." Raphael's tone is annoyed, but not angry. He actually enjoys spending a little brother-time - if it weren't for the enclosed space, the light hunger settling in his stomach, and the fact that he still needs to pee.

A tremor runs through him, and small goosebumps appear on his arms. "Hey, is it still gettin' colder?"

Instead of an answer, his brother exhales slowly, watching the white fog until it disappears over his head. "Yeah, I think so" he finally says. "I wonder what is going on. It should be daylight outside already. So instead of the cold, it should be warmer by now, should it not?"

Raphael narrows his eyes. "Ya think we are outside?" He scrunches his beak; for he has to admit that he didn't really think about their location in the last few hours. He thought of quite a few interesting ways to kill the madman Bishop, and he thought of toilets. Now it occurs to him that maybe he should have paid more attention to their surroundings.

"I am not sure." Leo sounds pretty certain despite his words, though. "I thought I smelled earth before. Well, now all I smell is ice, so I can't really tell."

Raphael faintly remembers that he smelled earth before as well. "Yeah, I think ya're right." He huffs, and it looks a bit as if he were smoking because of the fog coming out of his mouth. "This is crazy", he mutters and reaches out to touch the strangely red walls. They are cold enough to feel like a burn, and he quickly retreats. "You think Bishop wants ta turn us into turtle ice cubes?"

**_10:11 a.m., State: Unknown, Bishop's Office_**

The government agent's face is twisted with barely contained fury. _God complex? _The thought makes him ground his teeth. _Those animals took bets on my behaviour? Well, let's see if you are prepared for _this.

He slides down a small switch, lower and lower. With the camera above the turtles' heads, he can see Leonardo's teeth chatter slightly, and a diabolic smile shows on his face. His dark eyes, unblocked by dark sunglasses for a change, glint evilly. "Turtle ice cubes indeed", he whispers and chuckles as the switch comes down, down...

And stops.

Suddenly frozen, as if he himself had been hit with a freeze ray, agent John Bishop stares blankly at the screen in front of him. Then, ever so slowly, he lets go of the switch. It jumps back up to its former position. A small window appears on the screen, telling him that the temperature in his containment unit is rising again and asking for further commands.

Bishop closes the small window without so much as a second glance at it.

"As if I were to destroy your precious cells like that" he whispers to himself. In the cube, the two turtles simultaneously rub their hands, see each other's movement and laugh. Again, the agent grounds his teeth. "But you were counting on that, weren't you? You wanted me to act rashly." He chuckles, and it is a dark and bitter sound. "Not with me."

His eyes flicker towards the big clock on his wall. Quarter past ten. He smiles, turning his anger into delight. "Let's see how much fun you have once I am through with you", he tells the turtles, even though they can't hear them. "Once you are hungry and cold. Once your muscles are stiff and ache with every movement. Once you pissed into your very own prison. Let's see how _human _you are then."

His laughter echoes through the room, and the guards in front of the office doors suddenly find themselves praying that they will never make him mad at _them._

_**10:15, NYC, Secret Lair**_

"What've ya got?"

Donatello used to find his baby brother's Californian accent kind of cute. Over the last ten minutes, he changed his opinion on that.

"Their shell cell signals can be traced back to a rooftop near April's", he answers and sighs. "After then, they just disappear. I don't have anything about that area. No cameras I can hack into. No news about a fight, or anything." He face palms for a moment before looking at his computer again. "I mean, we _know _that Bishop has them, but there is nothing about his men so far either. And they are not very normal-looking, now are they?" His fingers press some keys on his keyboard. "Maybe I can try and hack into the government's computers, but it will take time..."

"We don't_ have_ time, bro", Michelangelo insists. "Don't you, like, have a tracker installed into Raphie's biceps or something?"

It is meant as a joke, and the youngest turtle is surprised to see his brother's cheeks turn an odd reddish-green. "Wait. You installed a _tracker _in Raphael's biceps?" He bursts out laughing. "That's too good to be true!" Then, suddenly suspicious, he looks at his own arms. "I don't have one, though, do I?"

Donatello shakes his head. "I could try and use the thing, but I never actually tested it. It could, I don't know, shock him or something once activated."

"I believe that whatever Bishop is planning to do will be worse than a small electro shock." Splinter's voice is gravely and deep. Donatello has to glance only once at his father's worried face before his fingers fly over the keyboard again.

Suddenly tracking his brother's arm seems like a very good idea to him.


	5. Black Rage

_Yes, yes, reviews are awesome. You are all awesome. Sim is the most awesome reviewer I've had so far. I'm singing hymns to you all. Now, on with the story.  
*Please note* Just in case you're wondering what the turtles are doing in a place like... well, you'll see...? Those on Stealthy Stories might know. For the rest of you: This is Bishop. Deal with it. :D I am very well aware that it takes more than 5 hours to go there from America. But then again, Bishop has the newest technology, and an air force jet is probably faster than a boeing 747.  
And yes, I enjoyed being able to quote the Bible a lot. I'm not really faithful, but I like the opening phrases. AND, you're right, Bishop is totally losing it now... :P

* * *

Never hurt someone's feelings  
Because they are like shards of glass  
And when they break they cut your very soul...

* * *

_**Silent Chambers - 5

* * *

**

**_11:23 a.m., NYC, Secret Lair_**

"That is strange."

Donatello says it aloud, even though no one is around to hear him. He needed some time to actually find the program relating to Raphael's tracker in the mass of data on his PC. _("If you wouldn't get in trouble so much I'd have the time to actually sort out what I need and what I don't need" was a sentence he used during the past hour almost as often as "Mikey shut up".) _And so Michelangelo went to do some katas, while Splinter left to try and contact his oldest student once more.

Still, the genius turtle feels like saying it aloud, and so he does. One more time, because it has a nice ring to it. "That is strange." And then, after a moment of consideration: "How odd, really."

He recieves no attention whatsoever and with a sigh goes back to his research.

The blip appearing on his own, modified version of Google Map makes him re-do the math about the tracker's configuration, though. Because it shows not NYC, not even anything close to the state New York. The red dot isn't even in America. It's in Europe.

To be exact, it marks the outskirts of London.

**_Flashback: three month earlier, 9:44 p.m., NYC, Radio Shack_**

_"Are you sure you want this device, ma'am?"_

_The teenager behind the desk at Radio Shack looks at her rather bored, chewing his bubble-gum with disinterest. April stares at the small electronic chip thickly wrapped in plastic that lays in front of her. To be honest, she is not sure. Especially not once she takes a look at the price._

_"This tracking device has a range wide enough to find... whatever you want to find up to western Europe" the kid says, while his glance wanders over her shoulder and to the video games rack. "Ya need that much?"_

_"To western Europe, do I really need that?" April repeats rather unhappy. Again, she looks at the price and gulps._

_"It's Raph we're talking about", Donatello answers over headphones. "So yes, we really need that."_

_"I guess we do", the redhead mutters and opens her purse. She lets out a sigh while her credit card is scanned. "You so owe me one!" she whispers._

_"I know, Ape. Just be nice and give me that device as soon as we meet again. That is, as long as Raph is not..." Donnie's voice breaks off. "When Raph is not what?", a gruff voice asks. The purple-clad brother squeaks and disrupts the connection. The line goes dead._

_"Boys" April sighs indignantly and puts the tracker into her bag. "Western Europe" she repeats to herself when she leaves the shop. "Not even Raph can get into that much trouble."_

_**Present time, 11:26 a.m., Apparently in London/GB, Bishop's Office**_

Bishop has long since lost track of the time passing by.

He can only sit and watch.

His plan is starting to work.

_**Time: Unknown, Location: Unknown, In A Box, Underground?**_

Raphael has the slight suspicion that he is losing it. So he says it aloud, just in case that he is about to do something stupid. Something he might regret later. It is his excuse, officially spoken, to be safe. He is losing it.

"I think I am losing it."

A strange giggling sound escapes him, and he listens to its echo. The smile plastered on his face is frightening him, but at the same time, he can't help it. This situation is strange as it can ever be. Because this is Bishop. And he hasn't even seen the hint of a knife yet. And because... because... Yes, why else indeed?

"No, you are not."

Leo's voice has a ring of finality to it. As soon as the warmth came back to the cube, and the air was free of whatever chemicals Bishop used to freeze them, he discovered that they are indeed underground. At least according to the heavy, warm scent of earth around them. It smells like newly cut grass and coming rain, too. But the leader is careful to keep that to himself. Raphael doesn't need to worry and more than he already does.

"You're just worked up, that's all. It's the too-small space. You'll see, it's all going to be all right."

His answer is another strange giggle. When he moves his head to the side to watch his brother, his onyx eyes find Raph's amber ones. There is a fire burning in them that frightens Leo. Not that he would admit it. He is sure that, however hot-headed, the red-clad turtle would never purposefully hurt him. Still. Better safe than dead.

"How do ya know?" Raphael asks in the same high-pitched voice. It's actually beginning to annoy Leonardo. "How do ya know it's goin' ta be all right?"

"The guys are going to be here soon. We can't have been moved that far from home in such little time. Besides, in the past I've been in meditation longer than we have been in this cube, and I'll survive." He tries a reassuring smile, but with the floor practically in his face he's not sure it has the effect wanted.

"How do ya know?" Apparently, Raphael is not that easy to calm down. Quite not so. His voice now has a sharp ring to it, and the fire that always lightens up his honey-colored eyes is flaring in a way that his brother doesn't like. "How do ya know they will come soon? How do ya _know _we've not been 'nocked out fa a _day? How do ya fuckin' know what time it is?"_

He grips the handle of his sai tighter, and automatically Leo shrinks back. The same moment he realizes that this probably hasn't been his best idea so far. In a way, an angry Raphael is like a wild feline trapped and wounded- most dangerous if you show fear. And right now, a smirk is slowly creeping into his features.

"Look, Raph." Leo tries to reason with his brother. "Let's just relax and think. I'm sure we'll work this out. I can try and meditate again, maybe contact father..." He is cut off by a scream of rage, pure and total rage. He actually needs a second to realize that Raphael has been the one to make this noise.

"_YOU WILL NOT GO AND LEAVE ME ALONE YOU HEAR! AM I THAT HORRIBLE THAT YOU NEED TO ESCAPE ME LIKE THAT?"_

_"_Raph, listen. I didn't mean to make you angry. I just think that trying to contact someone is the best way out of this. It is the most reasonable thing to do and-"

The voice is not more than a whisper. For a second, Leo is not sure whether he is just imagining things or not. Then he sees his brother's face, and he knows that at least a part of Raphael heard it too.

_...Kill him..._

Captured by fear that he is not ready to admit, by the held-back need to exercise and frustrated by the whole damn situation, Raphael lashes out.

He is losing it, and he knows it.

Good for him that he apologized beforehand.


	6. Casket Nails

_Once again, I am both honored and taken aback by the mass of reviews. And positive reviews at that! I want to thank Sim for fixing my typos and being awesome. (It's never getting old. x3) And everyone else for the feedback, too. Love you guys.  
When I read that you like my story the best, Sim, I was crying. :') Thanks. That means a lot to me, because normally I don't consider myself much of an author. And yes, the location of the turtles is still 'unknown' because it's kind of their POV. :3

* * *

Broken,  
Shattered like a mirror in a million pieces  
Sooner or later you've got to find  
Something - Someone- to find you and save you  
When you're lost in the dark  
[Tobias Regner- Homeless Heart]

* * *

_**Silent Chambers - 6**

* * *

**_11:39 a.m., London/GB (?), Bishop's Office_**

He had chosen before to stay out of this, to just sit and watch and let Raphael do all the work. Just as he had assumed, the red-wearing turtle was already losing his temper. With a chuckle, Bishop's gaze wandered over to the enormous clock on the wall. They had lasted longer than expected, but in the end, they all had to give in to their animalistic instincts. Yes, he would watch.

But when the moment came, he just couldn't resist.

Carefully, softly, as if touching something fragile, he took the speaker. Put it on. And, light as a summer breeze, whispered two small words that, or so he assumed, Raphael's hazed brain would just too soon make his own.

_"Kill him."_

And with a roar, the turtle attacked.

**_Time: Unknown, Location: Unknown, In A Box, Underground_**

Four things save Leo's life.

For one, the enclosed space makes it impossible for Raphael to really lash out at his brother.

Second thing is the hindrance of the hot-head's shell in said enclosed space.

Third point is the shell and plastron Leo possesses as well.

Fourth is the fact that in the very second Raphael moves his hand, he realizes what he is about to do and pulls back.

Killing Leonardo would, there is no use in doubting that, lead to a chain of unwanted events. Since he is the big brother, to all of them, it would of course mean a terrible loss for the family. Because, face the facts, Raph is pretty glad that he doesn't have to take on this role most of the time. He could, if he wanted to. It's just that it means he would have to give up on most of what makes life fun. Like busting criminals at night with his friend Casey Jones. That'd be bad for his image.

Then there is the not entirely unimportant fact that Hamato Leonardo was elected the Leader of the clan. Splinter's second-in-command. Splinter Jr., as the others use to call him, but only to annoy their brother. Because they know just too well what a hard job it is, and how much responsibility it brings with it.

Oh, and because it would drive Raph over the edge for good. And that would be pretty bad for the rest of the world.

Thus, Leo is not dead.  
Yet.

**_11:42 a.m., NYC, Secret Lair_**

"London" Mikey repeats. At first he sounded exasperated, almost ready to give up. But slowly he starts to like the idea. "London? As in Great, Great Britain? The mother of America? In Europe? That London?"

Donatello is mayorly annoyed. "No, the London in Arizona, USA, Mikey", he says.

His brother looks at him confused for a moment or two. "Really? There is a London in Arizona, too?"

Donnie face-palms. Sighs. Breathes deeply. Concentrates on his inner centre. "No, Michelangelo, there is no London in Arizona."

The grin is back on his younger brother's face. "We're going on vacation, we're going on vacation" he sings. The genius brother turns to meet his father's eyes. "No offense, but did you drop him on the head as a baby?"

Behind him, Mikey dances around, laughs, waves his hands in a La Ola wave, performs a spinning kick and lands squarely on top of a chair. Which breaks. With a squeak, he falls backwards, bounces off the floor with his shell, rolls through the living room and crashes into a lamp.

"I believe he manages quite well on his own" Splinter replies. Then he goes to his room to pack his suitcase and leaves his momentarily eldest son to call April. Again.

**_Time: Unknown, Location: Unknown, In A Box, Underground_**

There have been exactly four times in Raphael's life in which he was horrified.

The first situation occurred when he was about six years old. They found a box with bananas in the sewers- what a gift!- and Raph opened it. In it was a giant poisonous spider. The result is a lasting arachnophobia.

The second time he was afraid was when his eldest brother, Leo, crashed through the window of April's apartment building and didn't wake up.

The third time Donatello turned into a monster that tried to eat them all. Worse, however, was the fact that his brother actually _remembered everything. _

The fourth time is now.

**_11:43 a.m., NYC, Secret Lair_**

"I am ready to go."

Donnie turns in his chair, shell-cell in his hand. His father stands behind him, with a stuffed duffle-bag. A quick glance at the clock shows him that Splinter needed approximately 46 seconds to get ready. Mikey didn't even stand up again. Neither did Donatello dial April's number.

"I am not sure what we are going to do about it, father", the genius turtle tries to explain while his fingers push the buttons with unnecessary force. "We can't just hop a plane or something."

To his surprise, his Sensei smiles softly. "We are ninja, my son" he says. "If we can't, who possibly can?"

And the phone rings.

**_Time: Unknown, Location: Unknown, In A Box, Underground_**

"Raphael."

The red-wearing turtle doesn't even acknowledge the word. He just stares, wide-eyed, into his brother's face.

_"Raphael._"

The voice is sharper now, but still there is no reaction. It seems that Raph is frozen solid, turned to stone the very moment he felt his weapon meet resistance. To both his shock and anger, Leo sees a tear slowly trickling down the dark green skin of the face in front of him.

"Give me your weapon, Raph."

No response whatsoever. Leo is losing his nerves. Can't Raph pull himself together?

_"Raphael Hamato, you will give me your weapon. NOW. This is a command."_

The latter lets go of the handle of his sai reluctantly. But he does. It's a start, but the clan leader hasn't got the time to be happy about it. He takes his brother's weapon, raises it above his head and starts to move it along the wall. His movements are strangely uncoordinated, because the wound in his side hinders him, but he manages to find what he was looking for.

A nail.

Leo's grin turns a grimace when he tries to lift his arm even higher. The sai hit his plastron, but part of it actually broke right through and pierced the soft and sensitive skin underneath. To make things worse, the blue-wearing turtle has the suspicion that he's bleeding pretty badly. Under his plastron.

_Donnie will have my shell for this._

Still, he felt the shocked withdraw of his brother's hand even before he was actually hit; saw the expression on that face he knows so well turn from rage to utter horror in a split second. He knows it was a shortcut reaction, and he is not mad at his brother. He is mad at Bishop. And the longer Raph just lays there, flat on his face, the angrier he gets.

Additionally, the red walls are grating on his nerves.

"I'm coming through, Bishop" he whispers. He can be menacing and scaring too if he wants to. "I'm coming through, and once I'm there, I will kill you."

It is not a threatening, empty phrase. It is a statement.

Leo puts the fork-like weapon against the nail that is hidden under the red paint. It is as thick as his own fingers, and made of steel; hardening his suspicion that the casket is indeed made of stone. But the leader has faith in his brother's sai. It will be strong enough. _He _will be strong enough.

"I'm coming through."


	7. Earthquakes

_Sorry for the endless wait. Life was kinda busy as of late. As in BUSY. But here we are...  
Thanks to all my reviewers. Amazing how much feedback you get when you dare to kill one of them. You should know I couldn't kill Leo. The others, yes, but never my Leo. (I think I'm joking.) Thus, I now promise you a happy ending. For most of them anyway. ;D  
To Dipsey: Yes, Raph gave Leo that wound. Read Chap 5 properly. ^^ Why? Well, go into a box with your most annoying sibling for 6 hours straight and you'll see...  
To Sim: I don't like repetitions, but you are awesome. =3

* * *

I'm strong on the surface  
Not all the way through  
I've never been perfect  
But neither have you  
[Linkin Park - Leave out all the rest]

* * *

_**Silent Chambers - 7

* * *

**

**_Time: Unknown, Location: Unknown, In a box, Underground_**

"Ya're bleedin'."

Raphael's voice sounds strangely small and frightened. Leo doesn't look at him but keeps his gaze locked at the opposing wall. "I guess." He sounds tired, because he is. The wound is still bleeding. He doesn't understand why. And it hurts.

The nail is still where it was, not even half-way pulled out. The steel of Raphael's sai held. His arms did not. The awkward angle above his head, only centimeters from his eyes, and the rapid loss of blood slowed him down more than he expected. More than he is still willing to admit.

Raphael is silent for a few moments. Leo still doesn't look at him. He doesn't know what he will see if he does, and he has no interest in finding out. Guilt, probably. Anger. Or worse, hopelessness. Fright. He doesn't want to know. As long as he doesn't look, everything is possible.

"What do ya t'ink Bishop wants wit' us?"

To Leo's surprise, Raph's voice is now calmer. More focussed, maybe. Almost against his will, he turns his head. The amber orbs in front of him shine with an inner fire, but not with the flame of anger but with a lively spark. He smiles almost involuntarily. Then a grimace covers his features as his wound itches suddenly. Raph's face copies his brother's in an instant.

The blue-clad turtle lets out a weary sigh. Suddenly the white light in the cube seems much too bright, and he almost closes his eyes. Almost. But he is not willing to give in to this insane mess. Not yet.

"I don't know, Raph. But I sure hope he decides fast."

**_12:01 p.m., London/GB, Bishop's Office_**

Agent John Bishop smiles before he lifts a walkie-talkie to his mouth and presses a black button.

"Start phase two", he says, and his voice is cold despite the smile. Menacing. "They are ready now."

His eyes are blood-shot, he sees it in the mirror. With a small _tssk _he reaches for his dark glasses before he stands up and stretches his muscles. "More than ready."

**_12:03 p.m., NYC, Secret Lair_**

"I still don't get what you are talking about!"

April O'Neil's voice is shrill through the line. Donatello barely supresses the deep sigh that is about to leave his mouth. With one hand he puts clothes in a bag- for they will probably need disguise-, with the other hand he throws gadgets into his duffel bag, and the phone is pressed against his head and the corner of his shell. He has more important things to do, he is in hectic, he has no clue as to where to proceed from here, and he really can't explain it all to his human friend a third time.

"Ape, I'm sorry, but I don't have time for that."

He picks up a wide hat, thinks about it for a second and throws it into the bag with the rest of his stuff. Leo and Raph will need disguise too, after all.

"We need to get to London as fast as possible. Best would be a jet or something, but I don't have time to hack into the goverment's system either."

Speaking of Leo and Raph, he will need a first aid kit. Donatello's brown eyes search through the room and he frowns. Where was that again?

"Leonardo and Raphael are there, and we need to find them fast."

Ah, there it is. Underneath the bed. How did it get there? But he shakes off the thought; he doesn't have time for that. He doesn't have time for anything, or so it seems. No time for packing. No time for explaining. No time for research. No time for a plan.

"Bishop has them. Enough of an explanation, right? Ape, we need to hurry. My question is, can you get us to the airport? As in now?"

**_12:16 p.m., NYC, Main Street_**

Donatello wondered how April had managed to get out and the car ready in less than twenty minutes. But looking out the window, at the blurred street signs and angry drivers, and at Mikey's green face, he suddenly gets the idea.

**_Time: Unknown, Location: Unknown, In a box, Underground_**

The ground starts to shake.

It's a distinct feeling at first, and for turtles used to American earthquakes it is almost nonexistent, but it is there. Along with it comes the strangest sound, like metal scraping on stone, just far away and muffled. And every once and then there is a strange _thump, _like something heavy falling to the ground.

"Wha's dis again?" Raphael's amber eyes search the small space, but of course no information is revealed by the deep red walls. In the meanwhile, the shaking grows stronger.

"Leo, what'ya t'ink?" He shoots a worried glance at his older brother. What he sees doesn't exactly lighten his mood. Even with the red color, he can clearly see the crimson blood slowly dripping off Leonardo's plastron.

The leader gives him a weak, but strangely reassuring smile. "I don't know. Can't be good, I guess." He takes a deep breath. "On the other hand, can't be worse either, can it?"

Raphael tries hard not to look away, to see the pain he causes the one he loves and to deal with it. But he finds that he can't. Ashamed, he avoids Leo's gaze, looking at his hands instead. His deep green hands, scarred with wounds and wounds. Hands that inflicted as many blows as they recieved. Rarely has he hated them more than now.

"This is Bishop", he mutters. "Worse is his second name."

* * *

_I know, it's a short chapter, but it's important. I'll try and update every two days or so, but the way things are right now, I can't promise you anything.  
Please do tell me what you think, tho._


	8. Michelangelo

_I think I'll finish this soon. I need some free time. Let's see how I can wrap this up.. Curse you, sudden outburst of inspiration, where'd you take me this time?  
For those of you that haven't guessed yet, Bishop is officially losing it.  
And I don't know why it is all Raph's POV. Leo has always been my favorite, and at the beginning I was afraid of Raphie. But somehow his POV is so much easier to write.

* * *

_

God sends the meat  
But the devil sends cooks.

_

* * *

_**Silent Chambers - 8

* * *

_Time: Unknown, Location: Unknown, In the back lawn_**

Raphael really wishes he could say that it will be all right.

However, he thinks as he watches the behelmed men forming a loose circle around them, it doesn't look too good. His hands are bound at a really awkward angle behind his back. The faces he can see through the mirroring helmets are stern and wary. They all have guns. And of course Bishop himself is a strong enemy too, even though he is nowhere to be seen.

Leonardo is more carried by the men behind him than he actually walks. That worries his brother. Leo is a strong warrior- he hates to admit it, but the leader is probably the strongest of them right after Splinter-, and he would never obey to the enemy like that if he could help it. Which basically means that he can't help it. Even as Raphael watches, blood is running out from under his brother's plastron and down his legs. The normally grass-green face he has come to know better than his own is unnaturally greyish.

And it's all his fault.

_Pull yourself together, _the red-wearing turtle thinks and grounds his teeth. _You lost it once, and look where it took you._

"Leo", he starts rather unprepared and then stops again because he doesn't know how to go on. The man behind him pushes him in the shell, causing him to growl. Some of the others look surprised. _Yeah, didn't think I could talk, did ya._

"No talking" the man says and presents his best stern face. That gives the hot-head the final cue to go on and say what he was about to say. Because even if it is for something he'd actually like to do, he'll never obey an order from anyone but Splinter and Leo. Especially not Bishop's.

"Bro," he starts again, and Leonardo's onyx eyes meet his amber ones. There is still a spark in them that shows the red-wearing brother that not everything is lost. "I'll get us outa here, ya hear me? A promise. Jus' hang on." The smallest smile appears in the corner of Leo's mouth. Someone next to him- a woman?- flinches, but Raphael's mind is too unfocussed to make something out of it.

"Don't talk", the man behind him repeats and pushes him again. Raphael is about to turn and rip the guy's throat out with his teeth if he has to, but the thought of a wounded Leo in the middle of a circle of guns makes him stop. He leaves it with a last growl and then looks up to the mansion about two hundred feet away.

The casket, a really thick stone box, lies broken behind them. Raphael shudders almost involuntarily when he remembers the screeching sound, the shaking when the cube was lifted, and finally the deafening _smash _when they broke the lid. He can't even begin to imagine how they built that thing in the first place, let alone got them in. And he doesn't know where they are, which is strange because usually he recognizes a place when he has seen it before.

This is not NYC, that much he can tell. It's not the forrest around the farm house either, because he knows that area like the back of his hand from numerous trips. It doesn't look like New York to him. It doesn't even smell like anything he ever smelled. More salty. The sea has to be close. He just hopes that no hikers come by and see them.

He has faith in his family to find them soon, but how can they do that when he doesn't even know where they are himself? Their cells are gone, he doesn't know where. Leo's weapons are nowhere to be seen, and his own hang strangely foreign to him from the belt of a random guy to his right. And they are running out of time. He can feel it.

Oh, and he still needs to pee.

**_12:34 p.m., London/GB, Bishop's mansion_**

The black-haired man stops in front of the big ancient mirror in the hallway to look at himself. His eyes are still blood-shot from the hours and hours of staring at the computer screen, and his hair is ruffled and much too long anyway. He needs to get it cut soon. There is a bright stain on his black jacket from when he ate sandwiches before, but he doubts that the turtles will have time enough to see it.

He cackles evilly and then stops when he realizes that it sounds like he's mad. He tries a different, deeper laugh and smiles satisfied. Yes, that's much better. Now where was his gun.. ah, there, on his back. Just where he left it.

Agent John Bishop puts on his sunglasses and then steps out into the back lawn.

The turtles stand in the bright midday sun, surrounded by a team of his sub-agents. They look awfully tired, especially Leonardo who seems to be close to doubling over. And even from the distance the crimson blood on his plastron and legs can be seen clearly. Bishop allows himself the smallest smirk before he steps down the small hill.

Before he arrives at the circle, Raphael says something and is rewarded with a grin from his older brother. Bishop's smile disappears instantly. _They still have the nerve to joke? Well, we'll see about that._

_**Time: Unknown, Location: Unknown, In the back lawn**_

Raphael sees Bishop's dark form appear in the doorframe in an instant. It is like he is absorbing all the sunlight around them. Like his aura is an ancient, dark beast. Suddenly he is afraid, even though he would never show that. The last moments with his family come to his mind, that night in the Lair, when Splinter had already gone to bed. Has it really only been hours ago? It seems impossible to him now.

He sees their faces before him- Donnie's chocolate brown eyes, dull and absent while he replayed the last National History Channel episode in his mind. The shadows under Leo's eyes after two short nights and a day full of training. And Mike's wide grin when his older brother sat down on a fart bag. This unnerving grin... His unnerving remarks...

Raphael's face lightens up. He has an idea.

**_Time: Unknown, London/GB, In the back lawn_**

"What are you laughing about, _turtle?"_

Bishop doesn't waste time with long greetings. It is below him to greet these mere animals anyway. The two now look up at him, Leonardo with a raised eye-ridge and Raphael with a cocky grin. It is unnerving to him. Why do they look at him like that? They should be whining and begging for mercy in the dust at his feet.

"I see you fulfilled my duty", Bishop says to Raphael and points at Leonardo with a smile. Just as he espected, the hot-head's eyes cloud over, but only for a moment. "An' _I _see ya ate a san'wich", is his response. "Wit' full body effort, 't seems." He smirks.

Bishop can't help but growl at that. He really should have taken his time to change his jacket. But now it was too late, the harm was done. "You have to be hungry yourself", he quickly made up. "I could provide you with food, you know."

"Naah. I'd rather ask ya mummy fa a san'wich maself. An' ya should prolly go an' let 'er wipe ya face clean."

Before he can regain control over his actions, the agent punches Raphael squarely in the face. Leonardo flinches and shouts something in what could only be Japanese, but the red-wearing turtle hadn't even made an effort to avoid the blow. Much too late Bishop realizes that he has given in to them in front of his team, and it makes him want to hit them again and again. To see them cry and squirm. Yes, maybe he will do that after...

"Aww, is Johnny-boy mad? Does Johnny-boy want his mummy?" Raphael's tone is mocking, as if he is oblivious to the blood that now slowly drips from his busted lip. It is almost as if this is not even Raphael, but Michelangelo in front of him. _Michelangelo_. What a pathetic creature, screaming at the mere thought of his name. Bishop smirks, recollecting his thoughts.

"I have your actions on video tape", he begins, trying to sound dangerous. "And I will..." But he is interrupted again by the red-wearing turtle who now has the nerve to look away from him, at his brother, and _laugh. _The agent is startled. How can he possibly _laugh _in a situation like that?

"Ya hear dat, Fearless? Johnny-boy has us on a video-tape! Aww, man, an' I was hoping dat mirage studios get dem movie-rights first." He laughs again at his own joke. "What'cha gonna do? Add us ta ya insane collection of 'sentient beings dat I tortured and killed'? Or do ya wanna make a soap opera wit' us? Should I kiss my Leo now? Would dat make ya happy?" And he makes kissing noises towards his brother who, despite the fact that he is _bleeding out _in front of him, starts to shake with suppressed laughter.

Enough is enough. Like a blackboard wiped clean, Bishop's mind goes blank. Forgotten are his great and evil plans. Forgotten is 'stage two'. He wants to see Raphael dead, and he wants it now.

This time, when he aims to hit the turtle's head, Raphael moves. Lightning-quick, he steps aside, and the fist hits the sub-agent behind him who goes down with a yelp.

And all hell breaks loose.


	9. Blood

_I'm really glad you guys are still with me. I just realized that the last chapter didn't have a quotation at the beginning, and that sucks because I had a really nice one. But well, what's gone is gone. I hope I'm not ending up having Raph totally out of character, but it seems to work so far. We'll come back to that soon.  
I really need to wrap things up and finish this soon. I don't have time for that many stories. *sighs* This chapter will focus on the events in GB only.  


* * *

_

_The greatest entertainment in life  
brings doing what everyone says you aren't able to do._

_

* * *

_**Silent Chambers - 9  


* * *

**

**_The evening before, 09:56 p.m., NYC, Secret Lair_**

_Michelangelo balances on the back of the sofa with ease. A big, joyful grin is plastered on his face. Raphael, who stands on the other side of the couch table, growls in the back of his throat. How he hates that cocky attitude sometimes._

_"Aww, is Raphie-boy mad? Does Raphie-boy want his daddy? You want me to go get your daddy, Raphie?" Mikey laughs about his own joke since no one but the two of them is in the room right now. "You want your daddy to..." He is cut off with a yelp when Raphael jumps over the low table and tackles the blue couch, causing the jokester to trip and fall backwards. This time it is Raph's turn to laugh at him. "I wish I had a video cam'ra ta record ya face."_

_"You want a video camera?" In one fluid motion, the orange-clad turtle is standing again, with the sofa safely between him and his brother. "Well, not a bad idea actually. We could record the times you fall for my pranks. Actually, we could maybe make our own afternoon soap! I'll be the woman in distress, and you are the evil villain. Of course, I'd fall for you. And the finale is the kiss. Come on, Raphie, a little kissie-kiss for your princess in green?" And he makes fake kissing noises with his arms slung around his body._

_Raphael's mind goes blank. With another growl, he charges, easily jumps the sofa and tries to hit his brother right in the face. Quick as lightning, Mikey steps aside, causing Raph to stumble and almost lose his footing. Before he knows what happens, his youngest brother has kicked his legs out from under him and he crashes to the ground._

_"Why, ya-" he starts and attempts to get up when a green hand is stretched out to help him. If possible, Mikey's grin is now even wider than before. "C'mon, Mr. Villain. Let's get some pizza before the others come back."_

_**Present Time, about 01 p.m.**_

Before he can recover from his surprise, Bishop crashes to the ground. His legs were kicked out from under him. Raphael jumps right over his hands so that they, even though still bound, are now in front of him. Even from down in the grass, Bishop bellows orders. "Kill them! Now! Hurry, you idiots!"

One or two of the sub-agents lower their guns at Leo who is still standing where he was. Raphael is by his side in a moment, simply pushes the guard aside and slings his 200 lbs. brother over his shoulder like a sack of flour. Of course, Leo protests. "Are you stupid? Let me down! We need to-"

Raph doesn't hear what they "need to" do. He doesn't care too. Already running again and in no way hindered by the additional weight, he makes his way through the guards. It looks almost like a dance. They try to grab him, he is gone before they have time to blink. They can't shoot either since the risk of hitting the others of their own team is too great.

Suddenly he spots his sai. They are on the ground to his right, half-hidden in the grass. They must have fallen down in this mess. He runs over and bents to pick them up. Then his hands freeze. There is blood on the steel. Leo's blood, crimson and shiny in the sunlight. It is still fresh. He can't use these weapons. He can't. Again, he avoids someone's grasp and the silver glint disappears from sight.

A quick glance ahead of him tells him that the woods in the distance are about 400 feet away. That's enough space to outrun the agents, but sadly also enough space to get shot in the open. He can't risk it. The mansion on the other side is only 100 feet. Still much free space to get killed. But definitely the better option, and one they didn't plan, the red-head bets.

Strengthening his grip on his brother's shell, Raph speeds up, performs a U-turn and goes straight for the mansion. Leo is screaming at him, but he doesn't care. He doesn't have time to listen. Only one agent stands in the way, a young woman it seems.

She steps aside and lets him through, and only then he realizes that this woman had been surprised by them actually being sentient beings earlier. _Well, Bishop, seems like you need to inform your team next time._

Speaking of the government agent, he is back on his feet now. He lost his sunglasses somewhere, and Raph is surprised to see the dark bloodshot eyes that are normally hidden. Bishop looks tired. Bus most of all, he looks crazy.

He speeds up again, forces his stiff legs to run even faster up the hill. _Please don't cramp. Please don't cramp. _He knows full well that he's taking a risk here, running out in the open, uphill, with a weight on his shoulders and stiff after having laid in the same position for hours. But he has to take the risk. Because Leo obviously can't.

"LEFT!"

The command is so sudden that Raphael obeys without further thought. He makes a mad dash to the left and almost _feels _the bullet slicing through air right next to his head. Leo has given the command. He is on the lookout. Probably sulking, wounded, helpless and _still _bossing him around. If he weren't otherwise occupied, he'd be angry now. But he _is_ otherwise occupied. _Very_ occupied. Only a few feet left to the door of the house. Suddenly he knows that it will be locked.

He reaches the dark wooden entrance and pulls the doorknob. Nothing happens and he feels panic rise in his chest. What should he do now? They will get them for sure and kill them. And it's his fault, because he wounded his own brother and now neither of them can fight.

He tries pushing the door and it opens. As fast as he can he runs in, closes it behind him. It's his lucky moment- there is a steel bar on the inside. Quickly he locks the door and turns to find a way out. A bullet bursts right through the door and scratches his shoulder- so maybe it's not his lucky moment after all. Without further thought he runs upstairs to find a place to hide. He isn't the one with the great plans. Leo is, Donnie is. Mikey is. But they aren't here, and Leo is silent.

There's too many doors upstairs. The turtle has no idea as where to go next. Listening to his instincts he turns right and then left to the very end of the hallway. There's thick red carpet on the ground that hides his footsteps and deafens the little noise he makes. Downstairs the screaming and shouting grows louder, followed by a crash when the door gives in and angry yells from Bishop. Almost against his will, Raphael smirks.

He tries the next door. It's opened. As silent as a ghost he slips in and pulls it closed behind him. The room is dark and the curtains in front of the windows closed, but Raph won't risk turning on the light or any of the kind. He finds his way as it is. Something soft attracts his attention and he sighs in relief. It's a bed.

As careful as he can, he lowers his brother onto the bed, turning him sideways so that his bound hands are not crushed by his shell. Leo doesn't react in any way. Raph can only hope that he just passed out from the blood loss.

He lifts one of the curtains a bit and bright sunlight fills the room.

With a sigh, Raphael starts to search for something to treat his brother's wound. And something to cut the ropes around his arms.

He is not willing to give in yet. If he has to, he will stay in this room until his brothers arrive.

Because he knows they will come as soon as they can.


	10. Time

_I've never had that many reviews so far, and hell it feels good. Thank you all so much for taking the time and review, because I am ashamed to admit that most of the times I tend to not do that. *blushes and bows head* So you are really awesome and kind! 3  
Then some thanks go to Sim for coming back and reviewing as awesome as ever. I was kind of in a rush lately but I still can't believe I had that many typos. Phew. I hate typos in fics, so thanks for fixing them and being awesome and stuff, you know.  
I also fixed the 'missing quote' in Chapter 8, even though the awesome one I had in mind before is gone and nowhere to be found. *sighs*  
Why is everything becoming so Raph-centric? I thought he was my least favorite character. (Well, other than Leo I like them all the same but still.) Story, where are you going? Oh, right, I forgot. I'm not allowed to ask. I only write what my inspiration tells me to.

* * *

Tell me, would you kill  
To save a life?  
Tell me, would you kill  
To prove you're right?  
No matter how many lives that I live, I will never forget  
No matter how many deaths that I die, I will never regret  
[30 seconds to Mars- Hurricane]

* * *

_**Silent Chambers - 10

* * *

**

_******01:32 p.m., Location: Unknown, Bishop's Mansion**_

When he had found that watch before, he had thought that is was luck. Now he could keep track of the time, maybe figure something out. Have something, anything to do. After about half an hour of useless waiting, he isn't that sure anymore.

He turned on the lights in the room eventually, despite his worries of being discovered. It revealed a room of the sight of his own at home. Just as the casked stone, the walls were painted a deep red that looked suspiciously like blood. It was unnerving no less since that color seemed to practically haunt them.

With the lights on, he could take a look at the room's interior as well. There is a small television, a drawer, a shelf with books and some decor and the sofa on which Leo now lays. Nothing else. No weapons in particular, even though he had kind of hoped for some since in his head, Bishop would always use weapons as wall decoration. Turns out he was wrong.

His brother. Almost with force he turns away from the small pocket watch to look at him. He had used parts of the curtains as a kind of bandage, and wrapped them around the leader's plastron. But the wound was deeper below. The cloth rarely helps, and even from a few feet away he can see the blood seeping through the dark blue curtain. His eyes come back to the watch as if drawn by an invisible force. Half an hour.

Raphael is scared.

**_Time: Unknown, Oversea Flight, Government Jet Cargo Hold_**

He looks around in the too-small, too-cramped space.

In the dim red flicker of the emergency light, he can see two faces looking back at him. A giant, humanoid rat, and an even taller, humanoid turtle. They have to sit hunched over in the small room. It would be ridiculous, if not scary, for anyone who hasn't known these faces for all his life. But he knows them, and knows them better than his own. He knows everything about these faces. They have eaten together, bathed together, learned to walk and talk together. Played together. Fought together. Laughed and cried...

He knows everything about these two faces. But right now he wishes he wouldn't. Because it is too easy to read them.

It has been an incredible stroke of luck. To find the air force jet of her majesty's, the Queen of England's, army being repared at the NY airport they came to just minutes ago. Being ready to take off just then. Having found the cargo hold. An incredible stroke of luck, almost enough to make him wonder if it is just another setup by Bishop. _They_ can't possibly be in London. Still they are. And _he _can't possibly sit in the cargo hold of an air force plane. But he is.

Staring at a small screen in his hands that shows an occasional white blip. _His_ arm. Suddenly he is afraid that's all they will find, but he mentally slaps himself for the thought and shakes his head. _They_ will be all right. _They _are strong. He wonders why he can't think of _their _names, but his thoughts slip. _Blip. _Thought. _Blip. _Gone. _Blip. _Thought. _Blip. _Gone. His new heartbeat.

He tears his eyes away from the device and looks at these faces that are almost completely overshadowed, strangely glowing in the red light. Michelangelo is pale and unconsciously sucking his lower lip. So afraid of Bishop, and so worried about _them_. Splinter is in meditation, and only the light quiver of his whiskers indicates his low breathing. Oh yes, he knows these faces.

The problem with them, Donatello thinks and grounds his teeth, is that there are only two of them.

**_01:38 p.m., Location: Unknown, Bishop's Mansion_**

Five minutes.

He can't believe it's only been five minutes.

His hands are stained with blood, but he still presses the dark cloth harder onto his brother's side, hoping to at least stop the bleeding. He doesn't even know if Leo is still bleeding or if it's just the remaining blood under this golden plastron that soaks the curtain cloth. He doesn't particularly care. He presses harder.

This is all his fault.

How could he let that happen?

He injured his brother. After years and years of holding back, of anger management, of bolting when he came too close to damaging some_one _instead of just some_thing, _all it took was a few hours in one room and he killed his best friend. Because that is what Leo is to him. A big brother; a leader; a father, sometimes. But most of all, his best friend. And he is bleeding out under his hands.

Bishop didn't even attempt to get into the room yet. Raphael locked the door as soon as he discovered the key, but he doubts that it will hold if someone is to hit it. He wonders if Bishop has cameras in this room, too. He wouldn't be surprised. In a way it is like being in the casket again. The red walls. The uncertainity. The helpless feeling to suffocate even though you have enough air.

But his anger is gone, deflated, and replaced by angst. He has never been this frightened before. Rebellious, yes. Worried, sometimes. Scared, that day in April's room when Leo came crashing through the window... He shudders. But never this frightened. Never. And the blood dwells through his fingers, cold and absent of all life. He closes his eyes but keeps the pressure steady. He doesn't have to look at the watch to know the time.

Six minutes.

**_Spiritual Plane_**

_Where are you? Come back to me, my son. Answer me. Where are you?_

Splinter's voice fills the spiritual plane and gives shape to the white haze he is in. It has an urgent edge to it, and Leonardo tries to remember. But he fails. _I don't know, Sensei. I think I am in a building. _There is a building in his memory, a tall building on a hill. But what happened then? _The ground I lay on is strangely soft, but I don't know why. I can't remember._

_My son, stay with me here. This is important. What happened?_

Leonardo thinks harder, but it's no use. _I can't remember. _An explosion of pain in his temples makes him lose his focus for a moment, but he is back on the spiritual plane in a second. _My head hurts... Everything hurts.. _He can't believe how pathethic he sounds, but it is the truth. It does hurt. And something is weighing down his chest, making it harder to breathe._  
_

_Are you injured?_

This question is easier to answer. _Yes. _For a moment he regrets worrying his father, and he wants to explain, but he is now slipping in and out of consciousness. It is hard to concentrate over the pain.

_My son, who did this to you?_

A second of silence. Reconsideration. But when he answers, there is no doubt in him. _Bishop. _

Splinter growls, and in his head, it is a scary sound. Leonardo is suddenly very glad he isn't Bishop. He wouldn't want to switch places right now. Despite the pain and the pressure on his lungs. He can bear that. It actually doesn't hurt that bad anymore. Along with the retreating haze comes a new thought. Where is Raphael? Is he hurt, too?

_My son, we are on our way. You need to wake up._

Yes. Waking up sounds like a good idea. Leo watches the white mist fade with a feeling of longing. It is so safe in meditation. It feels like home. But he needs to wake up. He needs to know what happened.

For a moment his mind sees only blackness.

Then he opens his eyes.


	11. London

_It is time for a new start. Something fresh. Something different. It is time to close the dusty folders, dispose of the old and just DO something. Starting today. Starting now. Because who will change my life if I don't?  
That's right. No one. No one but myself.

* * *

Staring at the blank page before you?  
Open up the dirty window and let the sun illuminate the words that you cannot find  
Reaching for something in the distance- so close you can almost taste it...  
Release your inner vision! Feel the rain on your skin!  
No one else can feel it for you  
[Unwritten]

* * *

_**Silent Chambers - 11

* * *

**

**_01:56 p.m., London/GB, tube station_**

Donatello is fascinated and scared at the same time.

The city is, at least as far as his feelings are concerned, not smaller than New York. It is just so_ different_. Different people are out on the streets. Different buildings. The architecture! The doorframes, the old houses, the roofs pinching the sky. He bets that some of these houses are older than America itself. Far older than New York. The air is different, too. It is like rain, washed out and bursting with different smells at the same time.

And the people. He has to take care of them, too. More than once he reminds himself that these persons are nothing like the New York inhabitants. They are... he can't describe it. More suspicious, maybe. But also more open. Different. Europe is one big melting pot of different cultures, different societies, that are hardly divided by borders. That is why people are more open concerning strangers. But it is also the reason they are more suspicious.

People in New York don't give you a second look. In some parts of the city, they probably wouldn't look again if they were walking around as their ninja turtles selves.

People in London don't look twice, but three or four times. They study you. There is a bit of the American superficially in them, as you find it everywhere, but not as much. And with the wide hats and the long coats and baggy hoodies the Hamato family members are more than suspicious simply because it is clear that they don't want to be.

They have to take the tube to get from the airport to the seaside. There is no other way than this. Donnie doesn't know the area, he has no idea what London is like, and most importantly he hasn't got a clue about his brothers' whereabouts. He has his tracking device in his backpack, but he can hardly take it out and look at it in public. He has to take wild guesses, because he can't ask anyone. They would notice right away. The people are different. And he is a bit scared of it, to be honest.

The Sensei looks surreal in the hooded sweater. It is clear that he is old, very old indeed, but at the same time he looks impossibly "wanna-be-cool" with his clothes. They are necessary to hide his snout and especially his whiskers. But it still looks strange.

The tube arrives at the underground station. It is theirs. Along with tourists, managers, hobos, school children and shopaholics they squeeze into one of the cars. Donatello holds his breath. Someone just _has _to notice that they are not made of normal human flesh. It is almost claustrophobic in the cart. Like a box. A casket. He shudders involuntarily and from the corners of his vision he sees Mikey close his eyes. He wants to pull his own hood down some more, but he is afraid that someone may notice his three-fingered hand. So he remains as he is, not daring to move.

The car's doors open. People pour out, but even more come in. He can't believe they are doing that. This is insane. How will they get Leo and Raph and come back? How will they make it on another flight? What if the two are injured or worse? They can't use the tube with dead turtle weight on their shoulders. It's pure insanity. They will all die in here.

Lost in his depressing thoughts, he almost misses their station. "We have to get out!" he shouts suddenly, startling both Splinter and Mikey. The other passengers make room for them. _Someone will notice the shells. _But nothing happens and they get out safely.

The seaside tube station is over-ground, but it is almost deserted. After another look, Donnie pulls out the tracking device. The dots haven't moved so far, and a new wave of worry dares to crush him. Despite what Sensei said, they don't know what condition Leo and Raph are in. Leo said he was hurt. By Bishop.

Fury, hot white fury shoves every other thought aside. Donatello rarely feels the urge to kill someone, but if it were Bishop at his mercy, he would do so without hesitation. Mikey is even more pale than before; the genius can see it right through the normally blue-green scales of his brother's skin. They are all afraid. But they have come this far and they will not stop here.

"This way" he says and leads the strange group out of the station.

They are coming closer. Bishop had better be prepared for them, because he picked the wrong location and the wrong move to reason with them afterwards.

_**In the meantime, London/GB, Bishop's Mansion**_

"You are ignorant and useless."

Agent John Bishop spits the word into the dust at his feet as if they are some kind of bad taste that he needs to get rid of. The agent kneeling in front of him, a young woman of about twenty-five years, doesn't dare to meet his eyes. He likes being superior. But right now he has to get rid of this woman before something else unforeseen happens.

"You let them through. They were fighting to kill us, and yet, you let them pass you by unharmed. I hope you have an explanation for this."

The woman bows her head some more. Truth be told, she hasn't got any explanation for what happened earlier. She doesn't know why she did, or not did, what was. Or rather, she has an idea, but not one she is willing to tell.

Without a further warning, the gloved hands of her superior are under her chin, forcing her to lift her face and look at him. At this close range, she can see the dark eyes behind the black glasses, and she shudders inwardly. They are bloodshot and devoid of emotion. If she didn't know better, she would call them insane. But this is Bishop. A government agent and a brilliant mind that did more than one great deed to protect America. He can't be insane, now can he?

"You are a spy. Do not even attempt to deny it."

Okay, so maybe her opinion needs to be reversed. Maybe he _is _insane.

Against better judgment, she tries to defend herself. "What makes you think I am anyone's spy?", she asks, not even sure _whose country's _spy she is even supposed to be. For one thing she is certain of: The only country she serves is America.

"You let them through." He sounds as if that would explain everything. "These _creatures _are merely _animals. _They are not sentient, and far off intelligent." He pauses again, his face inches from hers. Suddenly she is scared. But his fingers hold her chin firm, and she doesn't dare to look away. "But they are very tricky. And they tricked you, too, right? They made you believe her." He lets go of her all of a sudden, and she bents backwards out of pure instinct while he turns and starts to pace. Like he is the animal he is talking about, trapped in a cage.

She thinks feverishly of anything she can say. She let these two... turtles pass her by, that was the truth, and she had to deal with the consequences. She can't quite recall her own thoughts at that time. It was the sudden shock, she supposes. That the "animals" are actually able to talk... And no matter what Bishop tells her, it didn't sound as if they weren't sentient. While the red one was clearly aggressive and potentially dangerous, he still tried to reassure his... brother.

She remembers her own brother. He was a bit younger than her, but always protective, always there to get between her and the danger. And something in those amber eyes she saw, something behind the daring attitude and the bared teeth and the hard scale, reminds her of that blonde, blue-eyed boy of her past.

Bishop watches her absent expression and bares his teeth in the abnomination of a smile. So he was right; she was on the enemy's side after all. But he was no monster. He would give her a chance to make up for it.

"They are in room 203 B", he says as a matter-of-fact statement. "Since you are their ally, go there and kill them, and your actions may be forgiven." He says _kill them _like other people say _what a beautiful day _or _the grass is green. _It sends a chill down her spine, but she keeps her gaze downcast and doesn't respond. Only when he tells her that she is dismissed, she quickly gets to her feet and leaves the office.

Room 203 B. She knows that death is probably waiting behind these wooden doors. She also knows that she has no more chance to actually gain these creatures' trust than she has to jump out of the window and fly away. But suddenly, death doesn't seem to be her worst option. She doubts that she would live through being trapped in a casket, or anything similar, for half as long as these "brothers" did.

Sub-agent Melissa "Lissa" Cramp always wanted the best for her country. But for the first time, she begins to wonder if "the best for the country" and "the best for Agent Bishop" are really the same.

Nevertheless, she grabs her gun tighter as she walks upstairs._ Be prepared, room 203 B. Lissa Cramp is coming._

_And she won't go down without a fight.  
_


	12. Lissa

_Yeah. I'm having the outline of this in my head now. Thanks for all the reviews. You know the drill. Sim is cool, you are all awesome, here we go.

* * *

__I have a brother when I'm a brother in need. _  
_I spend my whole time running, _  
_He spends his time running after me.  
[Unknown]_

_

* * *

_**Silent Chambers - 12

* * *

**

**_01:59 p.m., Location: Unknown, Bishop's Mansion_**

The room is amost too bright for him, and for a moment he fights a losing battle to keep his eyes opened. The pain, almost forgotten during that meditative talk to his sensei, comes back fierce and strong like a burning fire. He gasps, and then suddenly a shadow is cast over his face and his eyes finally adjust. He tries hard to focus on whatever got between him and the light, and then he catches a glimpse of red and green and gold and exhales in relief.

It is Raph.

"You're alive", Leo says because it is the first thing that comes to his mind. He is practically flooded with relief. _Raph is okay. _But his brother apparently doesn't share his feelings, because the shadow he casts seems to creep right into his face and get stuck in the corners of his mouth and the bags under his eyes. "Yeah", he says. "Dat was de first t'ing dat I thought of, too."

That doesn't sound right.

"Raphael", Leo starts and tries to sit up. Instantly, the pain is flaring again, and he falls back with a startled gasp. There are cushions under his shell. No stone. No hammock. Where is he? He looks around, and in his momentary confusion forgets to go on with what he had wanted to say. But he doesn't miss the hurt in his brother's amber eyes, and remembers what he was about to do. "Raphael", he starts again. "What the shell _happened?_"

Raph doesn't quite meet his eyes, and he doesn't answer. Suddenly, Leo is afraid. Something seems to be horribly wrong.

"Raph." His tone is gentle, but even though he tries, he can't ban the worry completely from his voice. "What is wrong?"

Suddenly, there is a fire in the red-wearing turtle's face. "What is wrong", he repeats slowly only to say it again, louder and fiercer, "What is wrong? Shell, Leo! Look at you! That is what's wrong!" He turns and stalks away from the sofa, only to come right back after a few steps. There is a burning flame in his golden eyes that the Leader can't quite place. He looks around again. He is laying on a bright white sofa that is now sprinkled with red dots. It has to be Bishop's house, he realizes with a start. How did he get here? He blacked out. How long was he out?

They have been captured again. It has to be. And again he couldn't help his brother in need.

"I am so sorry." He can't quite believe himself how pathetic he sounds. "This is my fault. I blacked right out. I shouldn't have left you there! What did he do, Raph? Did he hurt you?"

His brother doesn't answer. He just stares at Leo, with this strange look that the Leader doesn't know the source of, and while his worry only increases with the silence, there is also something else in the air that is different. Wrong, somehow. Leo can't help the feeling that he is missing something extremly important. But he can't think of anything. How long was he out? Did he say something in his sleep that made Raph angry? He didn't help his brother in a fight against one of the most evil villains that they ever knew. He really is a loser of a brother.

"Look, I am sorry... I will make up to it and- - -"

_"IDIOT!"_

The Leader flinches, taken aback by that sudden curse. What exactly is going on? He can't make sense of what he is seeing. But before Raphael can continue his explanation (or rather, his ranting), someone knocks at the door.

Suddenly the room is very, very quiet. Their eyes, black and gold, turn to face the wooden surface of said door in unison. Suddenly Leo has a very bad feeling about this. They are still whithin Bishop's reach. This can still be a trap. Has to be. Who else would come right up and knock?

They don't say a word. Even their breathing is more silent now, despite fresh adrenaline pulsing through their veins. Noiseless as a shadow, Raph gets up and approaches the door. Leo doesn't exactly approve, but he doesn't have a better idea, either. Not that it helps. There is nothing to show them who, or what, exactly is waiting to let in there. Knowing Bishop, though, it can only be dangerous.

There is a small chime, and both brothers flinch violently. Leo bites back a curse when new pain flares up in his chest and forces his body to remain silent. Raph points at a small pocket watch that is sitting on the small table next to the sofa, and Leo picks it up. Two O'clock. He wonders what day. Has he been out more than one day?

It knocks again, firmer this time. Hastily, Leo puts the watch away and wipes the worst blood off his plastron. The wound stopped bleeding, he sees with both relief (because it's healing) and concern (_HOW LONG HAS HE BEEN OUT OF IT?)._ Raph takes a deep breath and looks at his brother.

Leo gives him a small, sharp nod.

"Yeah?" the red-clad turtle asks strangely hesitant. Leo raises an eye-ridge at him before he looks around in the rather small room to check for possible escape routes. He gets to his feet slowly and carefully to take it all in. There are a few windows, but it appears that they are in the second or third story of the building, and while under normal conditions that wouldn't be a problem, he doubts that he can jump that far down yet. There are also shelves with books and decoration- possible missiles; he takes a mental note on that.

"Hello." A female voice comes from outside the room, and both turtles stare at it incomprehendingly for a second. That is definitely not Bishop. When whoever it is continues, it sounds hesistant and troubled. "Uh, do you understand my language?"

Leo can see in his brother's eyes that the hothead is about to give a rather harsh comment on that, so he quickly gives him a sign. _Take it slow. _Something in the shelf catches his attention, and while Raph is eyeing him approaching it, he still follows the unspoken order. "Yeah?", he asks again.

It is a small camera, standing in the midst of other stuff. Leo growls low in his throat but moves his hands to indicate that Raph should keep the conversation alive while he examines the gadget- or rather, destroys it. For now, he covers the lense with some blood that found its way onto his hands. He grimaces at that, but it has to do for now.

The woman is talking again now. "I come to negotiate."

They both raise an eye-ridge at that but don't comment on it. Raph is pointing at the table now where another camera is sitting on top of a small chest. Leo and he switch places with the Leader now leaning rather heavily against the door. "May I ask who exactly you are?", he asks while he watches Raph covering the camera with a piece of curtain.

There is a surprised silence at the other side of the door. "Lissa Cramp", the woman then says. "And you are?"

Leo smiles and closes his eyes for a moment. He is tired, and that person sounds nice. When he realizes what he just thought, he shakes his head and forces his eyes open again. He can't afford to be sloppy now. "My name is Leonardo Hamato", he says and fights to keep his voice calm and collected. Raph stands next to him, taking over again. "I am Raphael Hamato, an' ya better have a good reason fa comin' here", he says gruffy.

Another moment of rather awkward silence. "I want to negotiate about you leaving that room, Misters Hamato." Lissa sounds insecure. Obviously she hasn't counted on talking to them through the door. Leo can't help but wonder what the agents are up to now. Why don't they just break down the door or something?

"And why exactly would we come out?"

Raphael has taken over again. Leo leans against the door heavily. He needs to lay down. Now. Suddenly he fears that the wound will break open again. His legs dare to give in, but then Raph catches his arm and leads him over to the sofa. _Lay down. Now. _The gaze behind the red mask is demanding, and without further complains, the Leader obeys. That feels better.

The whole thing was done in total silence. "Lissa" didn't even answer their question yet.

"Can I come in?"

Something is happening, something that neither of the two brothers understand. Leo bites back a groan and presses his palms onto his eyes. The woman sounds scared, but also challenging. For once, Leonardo doesn't know what to do. He feels the first signs of a headache above all else. Raph can handle this. He is a good leader.

"All right, but only you. And you have to leave your weapons outside."

That is Raph's voice, trying to speak loud and clear, fighting his accent. Leo closes his eyes but fights the desire to sleep. God-knows-who could come through the door at any moment. He has to stay awake and focus.

The door opens, and in the frame stands a young woman in one of Bishop's subordinate's red-and-black suits. Her gun and a small knife are laying on the floor behind her, but both turtles know that she can very well be hiding more knives and other weapons on her. Still, Raph steps aside and lets her enter.

Lissa musters the room curiously before finally locking eyes with Leo who is still where he was on the sofa. His expression is determined, and she knows that despite his obviously weak state, he is more than capable of killing her. She can see it in his eyes, in the flex of his muscles.

The door is closed behind her with a soft _thud. _The key is turned with a sharper sound, metal scraping on metal. Lissa feels a chill creeping down her spine. The path back is blocked. The only option is to go right forward into the lion's cave.

"So tell me", the red-wearing one says and she turns, startled. So this one has to be the leader, she supposes. He _is _taller and bulkier than the other, from what she can see, and she straightens up automatically to match his height. At the same time she memorizes as much as she can about her surroundings. The position of the windows. The position of the two .. she was about to think _animals_, but it came out as _warriors. _The way the red one is talking in a really deep and gruffy voice, even though it's not entirely unpleasant or threatening. He looks at her with inhuman, golden eyes, but even she can see the intelligence in them, and she feels the other one's burning gaze in her neck.

"What exactly do you want?"


	13. Mess

_Action is speeding up now. I don't want to be the last one to finish her casket story. O_o ...Uh... and **of course **I want them all to be safe and sound and happy again soon, too! *coughs* *ducks under Leo's suspicious glare* Oookay... Ugh...  
Sorry for the late update. I had an accident that is a greater hindrance to my typing than I previously thought. Curse you, elbow!_

_

* * *

You have to be prepared for anything and everything.  
The good things, too.  
[Unknown]

* * *

_**Silent Chambers - 13

* * *

**

**_02:06 p.m., Location: Unknown, Bishop's Mansion, Room 203 B_**

Melissa Cramp is confused.

Of course, she is also a great deal afraid. Eager to do something and to honor her homecountry. In a fight against herself whether to trust Agent Bishop or not. And a bit excited to actually _interact _with these foreign creatures. But the confusion makes out the greatest deal of her feelings, and she is sure that it has to show clearly on her face. She sees the blue one- the subordinate?- smirk from the corner of her eyes, but it is a tired smile, and it fades as soon as _it_ becomes aware of her looking. She forces herself to continue thinking in _she- it- _terms. She is human. They are not.

She is confused.

The red one growls lowly in his throat and she jumps, startled, before she remembers that he asked her a question. "What I want", she repeats slowly and swallows thickly. Every eye in the room is now on her. What does she want? This would be the moment to pull out the knife she is hiding up her sleeve and stab them. She is pretty sure that she can take on the blue one, since he seems to be weaker and hindranced by his wound. And if she were to die, it would be with honor. It would be the right way to choose. But she hesitates.

Lissa isn't sure.

In less than two minutes it became clear to her that whatever Bishop may have said before, these two are no mere animals. They are not some random creature that happened to imitate human gestures. There is more to it, and the inexperienced (on biological terms) woman prays that she is right, that she is not about to make the most horrible mistake of her life.

"Well." She looks at the red one, the leader. Stares into those golden eyes that seem to burn from within. When she sees his almost-bared teeth, his aggressive stance and his unforgiving gaze, her confidence melts like ice. He is dangerous. Quickly, she avoids him and focusses on the blue one instead. She can see that he has the waiting grace of a feline. He is no less dangerous than his... brother... but somehow his calm interest seems less intimidating. His eyes, though, are like black holes and she learns quickly not to look into them.

"Bishop sent me to kill you two."

She can't believe she just said that aloud. How stupid. Apparently, the two turtle creatures seem to share her thoughts because their expressions show a mix of curiosity, disbelief and suspicion. And Bishop has cameras and loudspeakers in here for sure, paranoid as he is. She is a dead woman, no matter what happens next. So she prepares herself for everything. Or so she thinks.

The red one starts to laugh.

_**At the same time, London/GB, Bishop's Office**_

_"Bishop sent me to kill you two."_

The black-haired man stares at the screen incomprehendingly for a second. What did she just say? Did she just admit her evil plans? John Bishop grounds his teeth. The only camera they haven't found shows the room from above in a strange angle, and he can't see the woman's face. What is she up to?

When Raphael starts to laugh all of a sudden, it becomes crystal clear to him. So they _are _a team, after all. She is a spy, he knew it.

Bishop doesn't wait to see what is going to happen next. He is out of his office in a matter of seconds, pushing subordinates out of the way and yelling orders. They will not get away with this. He will not allow it.

He wants them dead, and this time he will see to it himself.

**_Still 02:06 p.m., London/GB, seaside_**

They are standing at the beach. Sand is stretching out as far as they can see, to all sides, and for a moment the three figures are overwhelmed with the sheer beauty of this. They have seen the ocean before, but the London version of it is so much more beautiful, so much more _amazing _that they can't help but stare.

"Can we go and swim for a while?" Mikey is practically bouncing with excitement. His eyes are shining out from under the hood that is about to slip off his face. Splinter motions to him to stay still while they are still in public. There are people around, tourists and others, who relax and enjoy the sunny afternoon.

"Sure thing", Donnie says and the sarcasm is dripping off his voice. "Let's hang out for a bit. I am sure Leo and Raph can cope with Bishop without us just fine."

"I meant afterwards", Mikey mutters. He is deflating like a popped balloon, slowly drifting back into business. The fear comes back as well, fear of needles, of metal tables and leather straps. Fear of Bishop. For a moment, Donatello is washed over with guilt, but he shakes it off and looks at his tracker. "Almost there", he says and starts walking. He wants to get rid of the shoes, the disguise feels strange and tight and uncomfortable to his skin, but he doesn't complain. Splinter doesn't say a word, but he follows the path with his onyx eyes that are so much like Leo's.

There is a giant house, a mansion, built at the far end of the beach. It thrones high above the ocean on top of the hill, divided from the water by a small group of trees. They can practically _feel _the tension rise when they come closer. There is a high fence with a well-known symbol stanced into it, but they don't need the reminder to know that this is it. They found Bishop.

Now the hard part begins.

**_About 02:07 p.m., Location: Unknown, Bishop's Mansion, Room 203 B_**

Raphael laughs.

The harsh, bitter sound fills the room and is reflected by the dark red walls. Blood red. It is driving him crazy. He wants to get out of here, to leave this all behind and go back to his old, peaceful life. He is seriously pissed off, particularly because he still needs to use the toilet, or anything similar, and he can't. He is hungry, he has a headache, his brother is wounded, and he wants to rip Bishop apart and use the pieces as a... but no. No, he can't go, he can't do anything, and then this woman has the nerve to come in here and tells them that she wants to _kill _them? What does she expect them to do, lift their hands and say "go ahead"?

He is losing it again, but this time, he doesn't care.

"Raphael."

He doesn't stop, only laughs harder, because he can't believe what is happening here. This has to be a big, sick joke. It's one of Mikey's pranks. Yes, that's it, has to be; because they can't really be here, can't really be in this situation, it is ridiculous...

His brother calls his name again, sharper, and he finally turns around to face him. Sees the dried blood. Sees these black eyes, and his laughter is silenced. Because this is real. It is not a joke, and no matter what Bishop does and thinks, it won't ever be. This is serious business. He shuts up, because that's what Leo's eyes behind his blue mask tell him to do. _Shut up._

He obeys.

Leonardo tries to keep it together. He can feel the next unconsciousness creep into the edges of his vision, but this time he won't give in to the blackness. Raphael is on the very edge of losing it, and he knows that they will both die if that happens. He needs both of them to stay calm, focussed and collected. He can't deal with another insane maniac on top of all. Bishop is one, but at least one he can kill. He couldn't kill Raph. And thus, the hothead needs to calm down.

They stare into each other's eyes for a moment, until Leo finally breaks the connection, feeling the urge need to act fast now. He adresses the woman personally. Lissa. That is her name. Lissa Cramp. He pinches the skin between his eyes for a moment before he starts, in the fight against a starting headache.

"Mrs. Cramps", he says. Her eyes turning to him are fearful and wide, but also determined. They remind him of April for a moment, and he feels his consciousness slipping away. He tries again. "Mrs. Cramp, why are you telling us this?"

He needs to focus. Stay calm. Stay _awake. _He needs Raphael to stay his normal, aggressive but conscious self. But more importantly, he needs an ally. Someone who knows the area, knows the house and, he smiles a grim smile, who knows the way _out. _Maybe this woman can be the ally. Maybe he has to kill her and do it on his own. He prefers the first option, but is prepared for anything.

"I don't know." She sounds afraid, her voice is quivering. "I don't want to kill you, Mr. Hamato." Automatically she mimicks his formal tone. Leo can see that she isn't lying; she really doesn't know what to do. "Oh God. Bishop will kill me for this." He knows that she is about to burst into tears, but he can't let her do this. He needs everyone in this room to stay _calm, _goddamnit.

"Mrs. Cramp, if you help us to get out of here and to find the nearest city, I promise we will keep you safe until you find a place to go." He doesn't believe his own words. But now he gave his word of honor, and if she accepts, he will have to fulfill what he promised to do. He doesn't know what to say. Raph is about to say something, but a glance of Leo's eyes silents him again. The leader, too, is determined. He _will _get out of here alive, preferably with Bishop dead.

She nods, and the verdict is handed down. She is now under his protection. He almost smiles at this, despising himself. He doesn't know if he is strong enough to get up, yet alone protect anyone. But he promised, and he will keep his word.

Raphael helps him up. It is pathetic. How are they supposed to get out of the mansion like this? None of them is in any condition to fight. He can barely walk on his own. They will all die in here.

But they have to try.

With a war cry, they burst through the doors, Lissa high on their heels. Right into a battle. It takes the three of them a few seconds to understand that this is not their battle. That it is not them who caused this riot. Everything is a blur of movement and colors, steel glinting and guns firing at close range. The room has to be soundproof for them not to hear any of it. It is a nightmare, it is hell. Nothing less.

Lissa stares at her companions, the men and women in the black-and-red suits, and for a moment she isn't sure on which side she belongs. But then she remembers Bishop, and her decision is made. She taps Leonardo lightly on the shoulder, because she is still afraid of Raphael. "Mr Hamato. You want to go to London, right? The exit is this way."

She slips through a crack in the living wall in front of them. No one pays them attention. It is so loud and wild and confusing.

"London!", Raph says but his words drown in the mess around them. Leo was thinking the same. He didn't know there was a London in America as well. But he has other things to worry about. They manage to take a few steps together before another movement comes into the crowd. The cries change, are more high-pitched. And above all, one word makes them stop in their tracks and hope fluttering in their chests.

"COWABUNGA!"


	14. Gunfire

_Finally, an update. Christmas stress is over. Take it as a special gift if you want to. :3 On we go.  
I hope I still have them in character, especially Raph. I don't want him to be like this. The evil voices in my head do, though. And they want me to tell you this: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!_

**_Warning! _**_Character death in this chapter! I told you someone'd die. ...What? I didn't? Well, your bad. MWAHAHAHAHA._

_

* * *

And they say that a hero will save us?  
I'm not gonna stand here and wait  
[Nickelback- Hero]

* * *

_**Silent Chambers - 14

* * *

**

**_In the middle of a fight, London/GB, Bishop's Mansion_**

"Cowabunga!"

Michelangelo's war cry rolls through the hallway like thunder. It shows immediate effect: The mass of agents starts to move backwards, away from the source of the cry, away from the backup. No one told them there were more of these creatures.

Someone stumbles against Leonardo and Raphael who are standing rather awkwardly in the middle of the crowd. Raph can feel his brother flinch in sudden pain and his temper gets the better of him. "Can't ya watch out, stupid?" he hisses angrily.

The agent turns around. "Sorry, man, I didn't..." Then he realizes who is standing in front of him and his eyes go wide. "The others are here! Look! The..." He is cut off quick and clean when Raph's fist collides with his stomach, but the harm is done. As if it had taken the shout to realize that the two ninja have left their hideout, everyone surrounding them turns and stares at them.

Leonardo reckons they have about three seconds until the first one gets a grip and starts firing. He isn't exactly in the mood to wait that long. "Move!" he shouts and pushes Raph into the direction from where they heard Mikey before. His arms are weak, but in his surprise his brother gives in and takes a few steps.

_One._

The first agent comes to his senses and opens his mouth. Another war cry echoes through the hallway, and Leonardo pictures Donnie swinging his Bo staff lightning quick. Too far away.

_Two._

Raphael takes a few more steps, half-carrying his older brother towards the stairs. Too slow. They haven't even made it past the first ring of agents yet. Leo closes his eyes. The second agent draws his gun.

_Three._

The riffle clicks. His senses are sharpening incredibly, but Leo knows that the way things are now, adrenaline won't save them. Something is crashing to the floor just around the corner, where the fighting is still going on. Too far away. Too slow.

_"Cease fire!"_

Everyone seems to be frozen on the spot. No one knows what to do. And there she is: Melissa Cramp, standing right in the middle of the circle. Leo didn't see her get back there, nor does he know what she is planning to do. But for now, she saved their lives, and to his fuzzy brain she looks as angelic as can be.

Everyone turns their heads to look at her in confused unison. She is the center of attention, and she obviously doesn't like it one bit. But she stands her ground. Raphael next to him is tense; Leonardo can feel the muscles standing out where their skin touches, where his arm is slung over Raph's shoulder. But he doesn't move. He knows how much is at stake. Suddenly, Leo is very proud of him, and he hopes that he will have the opportunity to tell his younger brother that before... before whatever happens.

"This is a direct order from Agent John Bishop. All units are to cease fire immediately." Her voice doesn't quiver, even though her hands do. Leo hopes that it will be enough to stop the men around them until his brothers find them. His vision is blurry now, closing in. He knows that he will have to give in to the blackness soon, and he hates the thought. He has always been afraid of the dark. Not that he would admit it. All he can do now is stay for as long as he possibly can.

One of the agents starts to say something, but he is cut off by the harsh sound of glass breaking one floor down. All the faces around them twist with the noise. "You can't be serious!", one of the men says to Melissa and lifts his gun again. "Look at these creatures! They are going to kill us all!"

Noise of agreement all around. "You know what they say," a woman behind Leo says who has to resist the urge to turn and look at her. "The wild animal driven into the corner is the most dangerous, they say." More agreement. The turtle in blue feels Raphael grounding his teeth next to him. The tension in the air is rising. Melissa's next move will decide whether they all live or die, Leo suddenly understands. And the dawn of realization is settling down in her face as well.

Now she has to decide which side she is on. And when she has made her choice, it will be final.

Leo closes his eyes, willing her to make the right choice, to think everything through.  
He does not open them again.

**_Lissa, London/GB, Bishop's Mansion_**

She sees the blue one suddenly slump, sees his brother trying to catch him while he himself is caught by surprise. The agents around her are not like her, she realizes when bloodlust is glinting in their eyes. Or maybe, she is just not like them anymore. Maybe she has been, only hours ago, before she knew about these two creatures. These brothers. She hides a smile, closes her eyes and recollects herself.

She will make a difference. After all, that's what she promised to Luke before he died. Make the right choice. Make a difference. Protect those in need.

"If you want to disobey Agent Bishop's direct orders, that's fine with me." She tries hard to remain calm, to sound bored. "It is your head, after all." She sounds as if she knew what she's talking about. With a start she realizes that she does know. She has seen that man before, in his office, and he clearly didn't see sense anymore. He hated these two turtles, and he wanted them dead. He would kill his subagents for his aim if he had to. Without regrets.

A chill is crawling down her spine, but she stands her ground.

There are footsteps approaching behind her, and she turns, forcing herself to stay calm. Are the reinforcements coming? She doesn't know how many more colleagues she can trick with her performance. The red turtle is wary, trying to steady his brother, trying to retreat into Room B203. She hopes he will have the time to do so.

Because when Agent John Bishop walks right around the corner, she fears that things are going to get worse.

**_Bishop, London/GB, Bishop's Mansion_**

Purposefully his long strides take him along the hallway, deafened by the thick carpet but not quite, because he _wants _everyone to know he is coming. He can hear the sounds of a fight from downstairs and knows the other turtles and the rat are near. The rat. He snarls for a second before he regains control over his emotions. He will see how much of a fight is still in them when they see their brothers dead. After all, he gave the direct order to shoot them all in an instant should they try to leave the room.

He turns around the last corner that separates him from room 203B and stops dead in his tracks.

His sub-agents have formed a loose circle around Raphael and Leonardo, holding them at gunpoint. He is satisfied to see that Leonardo has already passed out. What he doesn't like is that this woman, this _Cramp woman, _is also standing in the middle of the circle, and no one is shooting. She now stares at him, her green eyes wide and dark with fear and other emotions he doesn't know and doesn't care about.

"What is happening here?"

Everyone remains silent, uncertain, and that angers him. He stares at his sub-agents, stares at Lissa and the two turtles and listens to the fight coming closer to the staircase until he can't hold it in anymore. His voice is low, sharp and dangerous when he finally speaks. "Answer. Me."

And one of the men in red and black takes a deep breath and points at the woman. "She told us that it was your order not to shoot anyone and so we..."

Bishop's gun is in his hands and fired before the man can finish his sentence. Panicked cries and sharp intakes of breath can be heard along with the sound of something heavy falling to the ground. Bishop watches the crumbled form to his feet with satisfaction, almost with joy. So much blood, like crimson flowers blooming on the ground. He wonders briefly how he might remove the dark stances from the carpet once this mess is over.

Then he looks up. Looks right into Raphael's face that is twisted with a hatred the man has barely ever seen. All the men around the red-wearing turtle turn and flee at the sight, but John Bishop only smiles coolly in response. He can also see the other two turtles finally hurrying up the stairs, can see them reading in their brother's eyes what the scene in front of them won't tell. The rat is nowhere to be seen. Maybe he is already dead. Maybe he is around. It doesn't really matter to the agent.

He finally has them all right where he wants them to be.

And he smiles before he rises his gun and takes aim again.


	15. Two Viewpoints

_I'm sorry! I didn't want to kill anyone, but the voices in my head... They... Ugh... I'm sorry...  
To those of you who suggested I did, I repeat what I said some chaps ago: I WILL NEVER KILL LEO. I LOVE HIM. And that's final. I don't like TMNT death stories but of all of them I'd never kill my honey. And somehow, many of you (all of you?) seemed to think that since the sub-agent's explanation was cut off by the gunfire, he was the one who died. Well, that's not exactly true either, but it adds to the tension.. So I guess that was brilliant and ...  
AGH! LEO! PUT AWAY THAT KNIFE, NOW!

* * *

__I have found little that is "good" about human beings on the whole. In my experience most of them are trash._  
_[Sigmund Freud]_

* * *

**Silent Chambers - 15

* * *

**

**_Time: Unknown, Location: Unknown_**

He doesn't know where he is.

Strangely enough, that doesn't worry him at all.

Or maybe he knows. Maybe it's the smell filling the air, maybe it's the humming sound of a motor underneath him. Maybe it's the soft ground he's laying on. Maybe the whispered voices. He doesn't worry. He is safe. He is with his brothers again.

Then the pain comes back. It's dull, and he knows that he has been given painkillers. He's thankful for it. The medicine makes his thoughts hazy and his eyelids heavy. He could probably open his eyes, or lift his arms, something like that. But he doesn't feel any need to do so. He is safe now. He is wounded, but is already medically treatened. He will be all right. Maybe he will just go back to sleep again. No worries.

The battleshell.

The memory of the army-like truck drifts through the back of his mind. At first he can't make the connection, but this poked his interest. So he tries harder. He is in the battleshell. Yes, that makes sense; the battleshell has a medical station in it. He is satisfied. It makes sense. Or does it? Something is wrong. The battleshell. How did he get into the battleshell? Isn't he supposed to be in Europe, in London? Maybe his mind is playing tricks on him. Maybe he needs to sleep some more.

**_Somewhen between Noon and Midnight, NYC, The Battleshell_**

It's silent in the car, and the silence is crushing him.

Of course there are occasional talks, and bits and pieces of the sentences spoken reach his ear and make him look up or close his eyes, but he ignores most of it. He feels strangely empty. He should be happy now that they are all safe, now that Leo will be okay, but he isn't. How will he tell his brother? How can he possibly tell his brother?

His mask is stripped of his face by gentle hands that are looking for hidden head injuries. There are none. He knows that the true injuries lay deeper below and cannot be so easily found. His mask is dark red in his lap. The color is haunting him. The walls. The stone. The blood. He is sick of it, and he tears his gaze away even though he hasn't got the strength left to put the piece of cloth away. His hands have only one reason to exist right now- to hold Leo's hands.

The car is entering New York City. It is getting dark outside, but that doesn't have to mean anything. It's silent in the truck, and the silence is crushing him, burying him, closing in on him. He closes his eyes, trying to block it all out, but with the darkness come the memories.

_Bishop. Turning around the corner as if this were nothing, as if he weren't in danger or dangerous himself, just a man walking through his home. His voice, cold and sharp as a steel blade as he demands to know what is going on. Raphael tries to retreat, dragging his unconscious brother with him. There is a gun in Bishop's hands. When did he draw a gun? He is shooting. A figure, standing in front of him seconds ago, is now gone, falling, crumbling to the ground. More blood is adding to the one that's already staining Raph's skin. And he feels hatred breaking through, more hatred than he has ever thought possible to feel without breaking apart. He is shaking with supressed anger, growling but not quite because his throat is tight with the emotion. The gun is now directed at him. No. At Leo. And Raphael knows that whatever happens next, he will not allow this man to hurt anyone else ever again._

_His brothers are coming up the stairs, wide-eyed, not sure what to do. Suddenly it's very quiet. The small number of agents stat stayed even after Bishop shot one of their own are frightened, pale and sweating under their gazes. His brothers look at him, figuring out as much as they can in an instant. Bishop is still holding his gun, aiming at Leo's head, but he won't let that happen. So much anger. He uses it as a shield, not yet ready to deal with the aftermath of what just happened. He needs to do something. _

_"Take care," he whispers and Donnie catches his oldest brother's limp form before he can fall to the ground and into the puddle of crimson that is forming there. Raphael is lunging forward, without a plan, without weapons, with just one aim. _Kill. _Never has he wanted to kill anyone this badly. And Bishop smiles; he has them all where he wants them, without protection, insecure, confused, weakened and blinded by white anger... He is aiming at Raphael now, the turtle knows that he will never make it, but he doesn't stop, it's too late now to do anything but run..._

_And then Splinter is in the way, pushing the gun from the surprised man's hand, and together, as a team, joined by a son who feels like he has nothing to lose, they attack.  
_

**_Later, Location: Unknown_**

He is still in the car.

His mind is clearer now, but it's not enough to solve the riddles in his head. This is clearly the battleshell, this is their car. He can hear Donatello and Michelangelo speaking, can hear Splinter shushing them to be quiet. Probably for him. April is here; he knows because he can smell her perfume, and because someone has to be driving. He doesn't hear Raphael. But a hand, rough and covered in calluses and marks, is holding his own in a firm grip, and it can only be Raph's. Why isn't he speaking?

How did he get here?

The pain is coming back now, sharp and intense. But if that means his thoughts clear up a bit, he is thankful for the change. The effects of the painkillers are frightening him now. He remembers that he doesn't like them. Don gave them to him anyway. What for? He is wounded, he remembers that; remembers Bishop's voice and the pain of a blade slicing his skin. Bishop. Where is the man? Not here, he tells himself, not here. Calm down. Solve the puzzle.

"He's awake."

Raphael's voice. Did he imagine it? But no, it had to be real. The others are silent now. Raph sounds strange, tired and sad. He hopes that his brother isn't worried about him. It wasn't his fault. Then another hand grips at his arm, feeling his pulse. Another voice is next to his head. "Leo! Leo, can you hear me?" Coaxing, whispering. _Come out of the darkness and face the light. _He doesn't know if he is ready to face what's coming with the light. Face the injuries and the swollen eyes. Something is nagging at him. He doesn't want to wake up.

He keeps his eyes shut. Maybe the painkillers will work just a while longer.

**_At the same time, NYC, In The Battleshell_**

Memories. He doesn't want to remember. But they come anyway, flooding his mind, prickling behind his closed eyelids. Memories. The things that are on your mind are always those you want to forget the most.

_They fight for their lives. Behind them, Don is checking Leo over, checking for a pulse, for breathing, anything at all. Pulling out medical aid supplies to act here and now, to do what he can do best. Mikey is scaring off what's left of Bishop's troops. It isn't hard. That's what he can do best. Raphael's mouth turns into a smile as thin and tense as a wire. He will do what he can do best. Today, he will kill._

His breathing quickens, and he concentrates to slow it down. He won't let the others see that he's upset. He won't let them know how much the past events get the better of him. And like a movie running behind his eyelids, the memories are going on and on, a never ending stream of pictures. Not the pain. Raphael refuses to feel the pain right now because there are more important things to do. He will care about his injuries later. He will grieve later. Not now. Memories.

_Pushed down the stairs. They don't have time to check for a pulse, to check if the man is dead. As he looks down at the battered form to his feet, Raphael has a feeling that he isn't. But they don't have time. "The plane we got here with will leave again soon. It is supposed to only be checked and then flown back home." Home. Melissa Cramp will never go home again. Raphael wants to take a blade and drive it through Bishop's skull, to shoot this man the way he shot his subordinate without a second of hesitation. But he has no gun, he has no blade, he only has a hand on his shoulder that leads him away from the scene as tears stream down his face. He vaguely remembers a coat, pants, a disguise. Remembers the way to London, painfully slow, driving with the now deserted tube. "Pull yourself together, man." Mike_y'_s voice. And he pulled himself together, during their march through the city that was so much more quiet than New York, during the difficulties of getting back onto the plane with an unconscious brother, during the wait for April. He pulled himself together by holding Leo's hand and by praying._

He doesn't know how much longer he can make it.

Leo's hand is twitching nervously in his own. Startled, Raph opens his eyes, looking at his brothers for the first moment in a while. "He's awake." He watches the hope in their faces as Don checks for a pulse and then bends down until his head is next to his oldest brother's. "Leo! Leo, can you hear me?" But the Leader doesn't respond. It's silent again. Tense. Raphael pulls himself together for the sake of the others. He will grieve. Later. Alone._  
_

_**Later again, Location: Unknown**_

He has to wake up. There is no way to avoid it now. The pain is becoming worse, and his brothers' voices more and more urgent. He needs to wake up. But he doesn't want to. He has a feeling that he doesn't want to concentrate on, telling him that he will discover something unpleasant as soon as he opens his eyes. Like someone is missing.

An angel? That doesn't make sense. A woman. But April is here. Maybe answers are a good idea after all.

The first thing he sees after opening his eyes is Raphael's face. His brother seems to have aged in the last hours, but that's not unusual. They all seem to grow old after battles. There has been a battle, Leo can see it in the cuts and bruises forming all over Raph's arms and head and chest, a bad one. He looks around. Sure enough, there they are. Don, relieved and with his hands in his medical aid kit. Mikey, grinning like crazy. Splinter, strangely silent but just as relieved as the others. April's red hair showing over the back of the driver's seat. And Raph... Raph so sad and angry and lost.

Leo doesn't comment on that. It wouldn't be fair. Besides, he has another problem, another puzzle that needs to be solved first. He tries to speak, but his voice is rusty and he coughs before he can finally go on clearer and more firm.

"Where is Lissa?"

Four pairs of eyes meet his, confused and insecure. "Who is Lissa?" Don asks carefully, as if he weren't sure Leo's mental stabiility could be trusted. They look at Raph now, the one who had been with the oldest during the whole time. For a split second there is hurt in the hotheads eyes, but maybe it only looks like that to Leo because his brother isn't wearing his mask.

"Yeah, who's Lissa, Leo? Did ya dream of somethin'?"

Leo frowns but doesn't comment on that either. Did he imagine the woman with the dark hair that tried to save them? The woman he promised to protect? He must have.

But if so, why is Raphael crying?


	16. There

_Umm. Yeah. Dunno how to break the news to you, but... This will be the last and final chapter. (Readers: YAY! Finally this is over...) And this is a fast update. Because I don't want RaphsNo1girl to kill my honey! You won't!  
Leo: Please, kill me. Please. You'd do me a favor.  
Me: BACK INTO MY ROOM, SLAVE!

* * *

__"It's weird...you know the end of something great is coming,  
but you want to hold on, just for one more second...  
Just so it can hurt a little more."  
[Unknown]_

_

* * *

_**Silent Chambers - 16

* * *

**

**_Somewhen between Noon and Midnight, NYC, In The Battleshell_**

"Why are you lying to me, Raph?"

Leo's voice is soft and low, almost as if he were talking to a small child. Or maybe, Raph thinks not without bitterness, as if he were talking to a scared animal that's driven into a corner. Because a child would be lifted up into the elder's lap, would be carressed and hugged until the nightmares were gone. And Raph won't be treated like that. At the very best, he would be shot. He doesn't lift his gaze off the floor when he answers.

"I'm not lying. I don't know what you're talking about."

He is expecting something big to happen. He is lying to his older brother. It's a sin. Lying is a sin. But nothing happens. Aside from the humming of the motor and occasional sounds from traffic outside, it is eerily quiet. No one is saying anything. The world is holding its breath. For what to come? For an objection? But no one speaks. No one says anything about the woman that died only seconds before the family came to the rescue. No one says anything about the blood that pooled on the floor, was sucked up by the carpet and still stains Raphael's feet. No one says anything about the corpse they left behind.

And that isn't right. Raph's fingernails dig into the palms of his hands, so hard is he trying to hold back what he feels the need to shout out. Leo mustn't know. Because he swore to protect that woman, and he failed, he must not know. It would make life so much harder for everyone. And so he holds them back, the words that dwell up behind his eyes like tears and make his mouth dry and bitter like bail. He lied. But no one objects. The world keeps on spinning. Time goes by. He doesn't say anything.

The truck stops and the motor dies. For a moment, the silence is almost too much to bear. Finally, April speaks up, even though her voice is just a whisper. Afraid. "We're here, guys."

They are home.

**_A few days later, NYC, Secret Lair_**

Life is back to normal.

Or at least, Leo thinks a bit lazily, as normal as can be after everything that happened.

He is sitting on the sofa in the living room, eating cookies and watching random Reality TV shows. He's better now, the wound in his side is not aching too bad anymore. And he is treated in the best way he can think of- with time for himself, with cookies, with sushi, with his favorite movie... It's almost like being on vacation, just with the added comfort of well-known surroundings.

But still, when no one is around, there seems to be something clinging to the air around him. Something dark and bitter. When he thinks about it, it feels like biting into something sour. The mere thought makes his skin crawl and his throat dry. So he doesn't think about it much.

His gaze wanders from the TV screens towards the paper doors of the dojo. Raphael is in there, but no sound is coming from the room. No blades slicing through air, because Raph hasn't even made the attempt so far to get new ones. No skin hitting the leathery surface of the old punching bag. No footsteps. Nothing. And that's even more frightening than the tension in the air. But Leo doesn't know what to do about it.

Raphael has always been the hardest of them to read. And even now, even though Leo has the feeling he knows, he can't be sure about what exactly is wrong. He can only guess. Almost on its own behalf, his hand wanders to the small hole in his plastron where the blade has cut his skin. They will fix the gap as soon as the wound is closed, with whatever stuff Donnie normally uses to fix their shells and plastron. The cut will disappear. But Leo hasn't forgotten the cause of it. Hasn't forgotten Raph losing his temper. He didn't tell anything to anyone, and no one asked, but Raphael probably hasn't forgotten either. Because he keeps avoiding his older brother. Because his face is dark and sad.

Because he is in the dojo for hours just staring at the wall doing nothing.

That's not right.

With a sigh, Leo reaches for the remote and turns off the TV. He puts the plate with Mikey's home-made chocolate-chip cookies, his favorite, from his lap to the small couch table and untangles his feet from the blanket they were wrapped in. Then he stands up and makes his way up the small staircase towards the dojo.

It wasn't Raph's fault. Leo thought that his brother knows that. It was Bishop who captured them, Bishop who buried them, Bishop who whispered to them, confused them, angered them. Bishop who planned all that. None of it was Raph's fault. And he stands in the doorframe of the dojo, leaning against it, looking at Raphael who's just sitting there with empty eyes and knows that it is more than that. They have hurt each other before, during training matches, when they were angry, even topside in battles when they weren't careful enough. It is not that big a deal. There has to be something else that makes it so much worse.

Well, he'll find out.

"Raph" he says and when his brother doesn't react, repeats it. "Raphael." The addressed turtle's head snaps up as if he had been caught doing something prohibited. He doesn't say anything. He doesn't stand up. He just looks at Leo with an expression that is ready to break the eldest's heart.

"What's wrong?"

He tries to keep his voice leveled, his emotions at bay. Tries to sound gentle, coaxing. Leo sits down next to his brother, and for a while they don't say anything. They share the silence. Unspoken words fill the air until Leo can almost hear them, almost make them out, and more than enough for him to hear the sadness and angst and anger in this silence. And out of an impuls, he reaches out and hugs his brother, something he hasn't done in years.

Raphael starts crying.

And somewhere deep inside of him Leo understands that maybe he will never know what exactly happened. That there is just one more thing that he doesn't know about his younger brother, something else that's dark and cold and hunts him in his sleep that he has to deal with alone. Every one of them has these secrets, these things they won't tell, these nightmares. But maybe that won't be a problem at all.

Because they are being there for each other. And maybe, that is more than enough.

* * *

**~*The End - For Now*~

* * *

**_"If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story."_  
_[Orson Welles]_


End file.
